$5 Gold Eagles
$5 gold American Eagles were first issued in 1986 and bear on their obverse a likeness of Augustus Saint-Gaudens striding Liberty design first seen on the $20 gold double eagles struck from 1907 through 1933. The reverse of the tenth-ounce gold eagle carries a design by Miley Busiek showing a family of eagles around a nest. Until 1991, $5 gold eagles were dated on the obverse using Roman numerals. Arabic numerals have been used to express dates on $5 gold eagles since 1992.
The $5 eagle is the smallest gold bullion coin issued by the United States in terms of physical size, containing 1/10-ounce of pure gold. As the smallest United States gold coin, they are often purchased as an ?entry-level? bullion piece. In many cases, they become a collector?s first gold coin.
Uncirculated tenth-ounce gold eagles are common, and virtually all are available at prices near spot value. The lone exception is the 1999-W uncirculated piece made from unpolished proof dies. Only 14,500 were struck and now trade at prices many times greater than other regular-issue $5 gold eagles. Other scarcer $5 gold eagles include the burnished issues from 2006, 2007, and 2008, which trade at premiums significantly above melt values.
NNP Encyclopedia data is provided in cooperation of Collectibles Technology Corporation (CTC) and CDN Publishing, LLC. NNP assumes no liability or accuracy of this data.