2023 Gold Eagle MS70

History

The series traces to the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, introduced in the Senate as S. 1639 by Senator J. James Exon of Nebraska on September 12, 1985 and signed by President Reagan on December 17 of that year. Among its provisions is a directive, now at 31 U.S.C. \u00a7 5112(i), that the Secretary mint and issue the coins in quantities sufficient to meet public demand, which makes annual output a reading of the bullion market rather than a planned allocation. The 2024 tenth-ounce coin was a routine continuation of the program, with no design or statutory change from the preceding year. A separate collector proof version of the one-tenth ounce coin, product code 24EE, went on sale May 2, 2024.

Details

West Point struck the 2024 tenth-ounce Gold Eagle. Statutory specifications call for a diameter of 16.5 mm, a gross weight of 3.393 grams and one-tenth troy ounce of fine gold, which works out to a fineness of .9167, or 22 karat. Mint bullion sales figures account for 63,000 ounces of the $5 coin in 2024, equivalent to 630,000 pieces, against 67,500 ounces, or 675,000 pieces, in 2023. The obverse design is adapted from the work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Features

The obverse carries the Saint-Gaudens Liberty taken from the 1907-1933 double eagle, striding forward with a torch in one hand and an olive branch in the other. On the reverse is the close-up bald eagle portrait, commonly called the Type 2 reverse, that replaced the original family-of-eagles composition partway through 2021. Because the changeover was complete well before 2024, every coin of this date carries the Type 2 reverse, and there is no Type 1 and Type 2 split to sort out as there is for 2021 issues.

Notable facts

• PCGS applies the First Strike designation to coins delivered for grading within the first 30 days of a coin's release, making it a matter of submission timing rather than a difference in manufacture.
• A First Strike example and an unlabeled example of the same date and grade come from the same dies, so any spread between them reflects the holder label.
• The Gold Bullion Coin Act requires that gold for the series come from newly mined domestic sources.
• S. 1639 passed the Senate by voice vote on November 14, 1985 and the House by voice vote on December 2.
• The United States Mint does not sell bullion American Eagles to the public directly, distributing them instead through authorized purchasers.
• West Point also produced the $50, $25 and $10 gold Eagles during 2024.