The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 mandated the production of a 1oz 24-karat gold bullion coin with a face value of $50, a mintage limit of up to 300,000 coins, and a limit of 10 coins per household.

Enter the American Buffalo Gold Coin, 99.99% pure gold. In 2006 and 2007, Buffalo coins were only issued in a 1oz version. In 2008, Buffalo coins were minted with 1/10 oz ($5 face value), 1/4 oz ($10), and 1/2 oz ($25) of gold respectively.

The Buffalo coin was created to compete with foreign 24-karat gold bullion coins. Since investors prefer 99.99% pure gold over the 91.67% gold used in the American Gold Eagle, many were choosing non-US coins, such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, to meet their bullion needs.

The American Buffalo, or Gold Buffalo, was offered for sale by the U.S. Mint in June 2006, shipping July. This was the first time the U.S. Government minted pure 24-karat (99.99%, alloyed with small amounts of copper and silver) gold coins for the public!

With the American Buffalo coin, the U.S. hopes to increase the amount of U.S. gold coin sales and cash in on the 24-karat sales, which makes up about 60% of the world gold market. The content and purity of the Buffalo Coin's gold is guaranteed by the United States Government.

DESIGN:
The American Buffalo gold bullion coin is a modified version of James Earle Fraser's 1913 design of the Buffalo nickel. Specifically, he used Type 1* with the buffalo standing on a mound.

Most believe Fraser used Black Diamond, an American bison that lived in New York City's Bronx Zoo and was a popular attraction at the time.

The obverse depicts a Native American Indian. Fraser created a composite drawing of three different American Indian men as models for the drawing - Chief Iron Tail of the Lakota Sioux and Chief Two Moons of the Cheyenne are the two named by Fraser before his death. The name of third man was forgotten by Fraser and no satisfactory documentation has been found identifying him.

Fraser's nickel design is generally considered to be amongst the best designs of any U.S. coin. It was also used on the 2001 Smithsonian commemorative coin. Two American Buffalo Gold coins are in the Smithsonian Institution's coin collection.

On the mound where the words "FIVE CENTS" appeared on the nickel, the words were changed to "$50 1 OZ. .9999 FINE GOLD" on the American Buffalo gold coin. The motto "IN GOD WE TRUST", appearing on all U.S. gold coins since 1908, can be seen on the reverse to the left of and beneath the buffalo's head.

DETAILS:
All U.S. bullion coins, including the American Buffalo gold piece, are currently being struck at the West Point Mint in New York.

Only the proof version of the Buffalo gold coin bears the mint mark "W" on the obverse; the bullion version does not have the "W" mark.

The catalog number of the 2006 proof coin at the US Mint is (BA6).

American Buffaloes are the only 24-karat bullion gold coins guaranteed as to weight and gold content by the U.S. government.

An official Certificate of Authenticity accompanies each coin.

The U.S. Mint has a mintage limit of up to 300,000 coins and a limit of 10 coins per household.

*The Type 2 nickel design (no mound) was minted for the rest of 1913 and every year until 1938 (except 1922, 1932, and 1933, when no nickels were struck.