Platinum American Eagle Prices Up
On March 24, the 2006 platinum issues went on sale.
Prices rose across the board. The four-coin set costs $2,750. In 2005, the set cost was $2,495. A maximum of 10,000 sets are available.
As for individual pieces, the one-ounce version now costs $1,500 each, compared to $1,345 in 2005. Mintage for the one-ounce is capped at 14,000. A total of 4,000 individual pieces are available (plus 10,000 in the sets).
With a maximum mintage of 13,000, the half-ounce coin is priced at $780, an increase of $45 over the cost of the 2005 version. 3,000 individual half-ounce coins are available.
Up $25, the quarter-ounce proof platinum Eagle costs $435 each. A total of 15,000 will be minted, with 5,000 individual coins available for sale. The lowest increase was seen in the tenth-ounce coin, which now costs $220 each. That’s a jump of $10. In all, 20,000 tenth-ounce coins will be minted, with 10,000 individual pieces available for sale.
The 2006 platinum proofs feature a new reverse design, the Legislative Muse. It’s the first in a three-year series called “The Foundations of American Democracy,” and the design shows a muse inscribing the nation’s law. Eagles are perched on two twin pillars to symbolize, according to a press release from the U.S. Mint, “the strength and wisdom that eternally guard the law-making process.”
Designed by Joel Iskowitz, a master designer with the U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program, the depiction is based on the marble statue, “The Car of History,” by Carlo Franzoni and it represents the legislative branch of government. Don Everhart, a sculptor-engraver with the Mint, executed the design.
New reverse designs honoring the executive and judicial branches will be issued in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
The obverse of the coin featuring the head of the Statue of Liberty remains unchanged.
The Mint recommends orders be placed early due to limited mintages. To order, visit the Mint’s secure Web site, www.usmint.gov, or call (800) USA-MINT (872-6468).
A shipping and handling charge of 4.95 is added to domestic orders.
(via Numismatic News)