Launching today from the United States Mint is the 2023-W $50 Uncirculated American Gold Eagle. Each coin is struck from 1 ounce of 22-karat gold (91.67 % gold; 3% silver, remainder copper) at the U.S. Mint’s facility in West Point, New York.
Mintage is capped at 10,000 units marking an increase of 1,000 from last year’s issue. However, the U.S. Mint has instituted an initial household order limit of three for the first 24 hours.
American Gold Eagles first debuted from the U.S. Mint in 1986 in both bullion and proof versions. Uncirculated Gold Eagles were added to the series in 2006.
Uncirculated Gold Eagle Designs
Since their respective debuts, all Gold Eagles have featured the iconic obverse (heads side) imagery of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ striking depiction of Liberty. This renowned design showcases a full-length figure of Liberty with flowing hair, holding a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left. The inscriptions on the obverse include "LIBERTY" and the year "2023."
This beloved image has been a favorite among collectors and was initially introduced on the $20 gold coins minted between 1907 and 1933. In 2021, the U.S. Mint revisited its historical assets and endeavored to create a contemporary design that more closely resembles Saint-Gaudens’ original vision and meticulous details.
2021 also saw the U.S. Mint make a notable change to the reverse (tails side) design, marking the first alteration in the program’s 35-year history. The reverse now features the likeness of an eagle as crafted by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Designer Jennie Norris and sculpted by United States Mint Medallic Artist Renata Gordon.
Inscriptions on the reverse include "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," "IN GOD WE TRUST," "50 DOLLARS," and "1 OZ. FINE GOLD."
A reeded edge variation on the coin has been added as an anti-counterfeiting measure.
Coin Specifications
| Denomination: | $50 |
| Composition: | 91.67% Gold, 3.0% Silver, Balance Copper |
| Weight: | 1.0909 troy oz. (33.931 grams) |
| Diameter: | 1.287 inches (32.70 mm) |
| Thickness | 0.113 inch (2.87 mm) |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| Mint Mark: | West Point — W |
Ordering and Pricing
Beginning at noon ET, the 2023-W $50 Uncirculated American Gold Eagle may be ordered directly from the U.S. Mint’s gold coins page located here.
Each is initially offered for $2,820.00. That is subject to change weekly based on a matrix the U.S. Mint uses that ties its gold coin prices to market conditions. As a comparison, last year’s uncirculated Gold Eagle debuted at $2,670.00.
*PSA With gold sky rocketing, Banks sketchy, Congress irresponsible, inept and ineffectual, DO NOT let your guards down buying when and if buying precious metals! While looking for 2023 American Gold Eagles to see how bullion is currently priced, compared to tomorrow’s US Mint Unc AGE release, I stumbled onto a major counterfeit gold site? The coin that got me to enter the site was an advertised Random 1oz American Gold Eagle priced at $1,551.69? My initial reaction was that this was an “old price”/hook and once you clicked and the site/product opened, the pricing would change or update to… Read more »
I wonder, given that the counterfeiters are busy making AGE’s and ASE’s does that mean the other coins are getting a pass? I mean, why waste time and resources making fake silver AWQ, right?
Major D and CaliSkier,
While counterfeit coins are certainly a major issue to be aware of and subsequently to be dealt with, they pale considerably beside the ever increasing variety of internet, phone and mail scams perpetrated on the American public (most especially so the elderly) to the tune of many billions of dollars annually thanks to a wide range of foreign and domestic swindlers.
But that Nigerian prince seemed like such a nice fellow…
I wouldn’t go assigning the blame to him, REB, if for some reason you didn’t send the few grand required to spring your multi-million dollar windfall from its holdup at customs.
I love that meme picture. Looks like me at the keyboard.
>> “Each is initially offered for $2,820.00.”
ouch. that’s a hefty $800+ premium over spot.
I know the mint needs to make some money on these, but the packaging for this is not much different than silver coins which don’t have $800 premiums over spot. And as the mint can re-price weekly as gold moves in $50 increments, they really don’t need an $800 buffer to insulate from such an unlikely large move.
c_q, I think if people would count out $800 / $820.00 in $10’s or $20’s and look at the pile on their table, they might have reservations about giving that much to the mint in the form of a ‘premium.’ Personally, I don’t have a problem paying them $200-$300 over spot to mint a gold ounce coin, but with the cost at or above $800, well I don’t need it that badly.
Craig,
Since I have a problem spending $200 to $300 total for a gold coin, I have long convinced myself I don’t need one of those at all.
For the princely sum of $2,820 you will receive a beautiful Uncirculated Fifty Dollar Gold Coin in a glamorous clam shell holder. Just kidding…it arrives in a cheap paper box.
“But wait, there’s more!”…For just an $825 premium over spot gold, you get this gold coin with the 3% silver & 5.33% copper in it for no extra cost – FREE base metal…Such a deal!
Mashuga nuts! Lol.
NumisdudeTX
I’ve thought about that specific issue with 22K Gold myself, Seth, and to me it’s just another good reason to stay away from these kinds of coins in general.
Kaiser, while the prices the mint is currently charging for AGE’s is prohibitive, if you had bought them 10-15 years ago, you’d have a nice ROI.I’ve been buying gold coins since I was a kid and only wish I could buy more at some of those earlier prices. If only I had a Time Machine! Maybe Elon could look into that as well.
Craig, I think it’s great that you have been able to accumulate that likely not inconsequential nest egg over the years; it clearly demonstrates a lot of hard work and smart planning put to excellent use. In my case, between the substantial expense of years of child support and my tendency to live for the day there never seemed to be any discretionary funds for me to invest in precious metals.
The Uncirculated AGE priced at $2820 seems a little overpriced to me, unless they are using 22k gold in the Mint seal on the premiere box.
For that price the Mint could easily afford to gild a nice metal box inside and out to house the coin. RCM adds gilding to several of its silver coins and the cost is marginal. Frankly, if our science is at the point of building compact fusion reactors, how much longer before there’s a household alchemy machine to make whatever gold you want? Cheap, manufactured diamonds are now indistinguishable from the extracted variety. Who’s to say what holds for the future of gold?
To get a nucleus with 79 protons is possible with nuclear reactors or particle accelerators, but the cost would make it impractical for a handful of gold atoms. Giant stars produce it better, when they go supernova, and sometimes produce the equivalent of several earth masses in gold.There was a recent supernova in Messier101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, and who knows how much gold/platinum was just produced from it.
For your edification a view of Messier 101 also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy…
Looks like it would make a fun theme-park ride!
(“Pinwheel Galaxy – A nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there”).
NumisdudeTX
Not much surprises me anymore when it comes to the operations of the Mint, Major D, but I must say I was still a bit taken aback when I saw that this rather expensive coin would be delivered in a simple cardboard/paper container. Oh, the humanity!
For those that ‘complain’ about the amount of gold in this coin, please read the specifications and you will see that there is 1.000 troy ounce fine gold in the coin. The same amount of gold that is in the Gold Buffalo coins as well as the $50 proof Gold American Eagle.
Thanks Carl, but I’ve known that since the first year of issue in 1986 – I was being sarcastic about the silver & copper metal in this gold coin. The U.S. Mint decided in 1985 that this gold coin series would look better with the look of older classic U.S. Mint coins so they played around with different alloys & came up with this mixture before they were offered in 1986. They did not want the 90% gold 10% copper mix from the past, but settled on 91.67% gold plus the silver & copper for a richer buttery gold color.… Read more »
Seth and Carl, that issue was at one time rather perplexing to me also until some of our fellow contributors thankfully took it upon themselves to explain the details.
I should have stated the specifications that I referred to are on the US Mint website.
Carl,
Yes, and they are also on the COA that comes with the coin.
The sales figures since 2017 that I’ve looked up show that a little less than 10,000 are sold each year…low mintage, but low interest no doubt.
NumisdudeTX
My best guess, Seth, is that the low level of interest shown regularly towards this rather striking-looking gold coin has a lot to do with its undeniably high price.