Since their primary roll into banks in June of 2006, the original (two-sided) 24-karat gold coins have been idolized by millions of collectors and investors. The .9999 gold in bullion version is valued at a legal $50. The recent popularity of gold coins by investors and government lobbyists has been construed by the fact that gold does not diminish in value as do monetary units in circulation as a cause of national inflation. Another reason is its physical durability in that gold coins do not rip or damage as easily as paper money.
The old American Buffalo Coin’s reverse side was formerly the head of an American Indian, with respect to the natives of the vast North American plains. The Buffalo, or bison, is the same inscribed drawing as that of the 1914 Buffalo Coin, designed by James Earl Frazier.
“When American settlers first expanded to the West with Manifest Destiny written on their minds,” said Deputy Director Charles P. Mackintosh, designer of the 2008 One-Sided Buffalo Coin, “they took not only the land of the natives, but also the land’s majestic grazers, the North American buffalo. Since we’ve already compensated the remaining Native Americans with their own reservations and subsidized in parts of the country, we believe it is now the buffalo’s turn to earn more than we ever gave them. “
As a result, the American Indian head was removed from the coin in order to amplify the statement toward the nearly-extinct buffalo of the Great Plains. One inscribed side and one empty side however, was unappealing to the Department of the Treasury and could hinder sales and investments. The reverse empty side was officially removed, leaving only the grazing buffalo and coin’s ridges. The new coin now also comes in gold-bronze and pure silver.
“I’m always getting the same question: ‘If I flip the coin over, what will the other side look like?’” states Mackintosh, “I’ve always replied with the same answer: ‘What other side?’”
The charm of this new “half coin” is that its value is not altered from the two-sided 2006 version. The types of metals the coin is made with is still the same. The mass and density of the coin remains. The only difference in value is between the pure gold and silver metals and the gold-bronze alloy.
The release of this newest coin in 2008 will undoubtedly be a step-up in the nation’s economy. Investors and collectors from around the globe won’t be able to wait and see this modern marvel. Republican Secretary of the Treasury, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., has served the United States well, and this will be evident right before election time of next year.
