One of the most popular coins to collect and invest in is the U.S. Gold Buffalo coin. This coin was first produced in the summer of 2006. This particular gold coin features designs originally made by James Earle Fraser in 1913. His designs that were used for this coin were taken from the Indian Head nickel. One of the reasons this coin is so popular is that it is one of the first coins to ever be minted from 24-karat gold in the United States.

The reason the U.S. Mint decided to produce the gold Buffalo coin was to compete and keep up with all of the 24-karat gold coins being produced in foreign countries around the world. When investors look to invest in a coin, they want one that will be made from a high percentage of gold. The American Eagle coin at the time was only made from 91% gold. The new Buffalo coin was made from a whopping 99% gold, making it extremely valuable and a great investment. This would make the coin incredibly attractive to not only American investors, but investors from around the world.

The design used for the gold Buffalo coin was made up of a Native American tribal chief on one side of the coin. Fraser, the coin’s designer, took different features from several different Native American chiefs and made them into one person for the design. Fraser made a buffalo for the reverse side of the coin. One of the few changes made to the Buffalo gold coin was that the land on which the buffalo is standing and grazing was made slightly smaller so that more print could be put onto the coin.

Fraser got his inspiration for the image of the buffalo from a real life buffalo that resided in a zoo in New York City. The buffalo lived at the zoo around 1910. The original nickel coin placed the value of the coin at five cents. The gold coin is valued at $50 since it is a full ounce of gold. The coin was originally minted by West Point Mint, as this is the only Mint in America that makes bullion coins. Originally, the only coin that was available was one that was marked $50 for a coin made from an ounce of gold. In 2008, a $25, $10, and a $5 version were all created with smaller gold weights.