2005 Gold Eagle PR70DCAM

History

The Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985 authorized the Treasury to issue a new line of American gold coins, and the first of them reached buyers in 1986. Congress had sought a domestic answer to the Krugerrand and the Maple Leaf, and the law required that the gold come from United States mines. No design competition was held, because the Act itself specified what the coins would look like: Augustus Saint-Gaudens' 1907 Liberty for the obverse and a new reverse by sculptor Miley Busiek. By 2005 the program had grown to four proof denominations struck at West Point, of which the tenth-ounce $5 was the smallest.

Details

The 2005-W $5 is a proof strike from the West Point Mint, carrying the W mint mark that distinguishes the collector version from the 2005 bullion tenth-ounce, which was issued without a mint mark. The alloy is 22 karat gold, 91.67 percent gold with 3 percent silver and 5.33 percent copper, containing one-tenth troy ounce of gold at a gross weight of 3.39 grams. Diameter is 16.50 mm with a reeded edge and a face value of five dollars. The obverse design is credited to Saint-Gaudens and the reverse to Busiek, whose eagle group was adopted in 1986.

Features

Liberty strides forward on the obverse with a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left, the Capitol building at the left in the background and the sun's rays behind her, with LIBERTY above, stars around and the date at lower right. The reverse carries Busiek's family of eagles, a male eagle in flight with an olive branch above a nest holding a female eagle and hatchlings, accompanied by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM and IN GOD WE TRUST along with the weight and denomination statement. Surfaces are typically deep cameo, and certified examples are graded with Cameo and Deep Cameo or Ultra Cameo designations. No doubled dies, repunched mint marks or other varieties are recognized for the issue.

Notable facts

• PCGS catalogs the issue as number 99976.
• The burnished uncirculated W Gold Eagles did not begin until 2006, so no uncirculated 2005-W exists.
• The coin was sold individually and as part of a four-coin proof set with the $50, $25 and $10 denominations, and coins broken out of sets are identical to singles.
• Because the coins were sold in protective packaging to collectors, survival is essentially complete and PR70 Deep Cameo examples remain readily available from both major grading services.
• Premiums on this date are driven by grade and label rather than scarcity.