American Gold Eagle

The American Gold Eagle is an official gold bullion coin of the United States.

History
Authorized under the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, it was first released by the United States Mint in 1986. Offered in 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz denominations, these coins are guaranteed by the U.S. government to contain the stated amount of actual gold weight in  troy ounces. By law, the gold must come from sources in America, with an additional alloy of silver and copper to produce a more wear-resistant coin of .9167 (22 karat, which had long been the crown gold English standard for gold coins, and before 1834, for American gold coins as well). It is authorized by the United States Congress and is backed by the United States Mint for weight and content.

Design
The obverse design features a rendition of Augustus Saint-Gaudens' full length figure of Lady Liberty with flowing hair, holding a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left, with the Capitol building in the left background. The reverse design, by sculptor Miley Busiek, features a male eagle carrying an olive branch flying above a nest containing a female eagle and her hatchlings.

Background
The market value of the coins is generally about equal to the market value of their gold content, not their face value. As of March 2009 the $5, $10, $25, and $50 coins by face value are worth and sell for about $130, $275, $550, and $1,000 USD respectively. Their actual selling prices vary daily based on the current spot price of gold. The United States Mint also produces a proof version for coin collectors. These coins are for the most part produced at the West Point Mint in West Point,  New York and carry the mint's mark ("W") beneath the date.

Gold Eagles minted 1986-1991 are dated with Roman numerals. In 1992, the U.S. Mint switched to Arabic numbers for dating Gold Eagles.

Series
The 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2 troy oz coins are identical in design to the 1 troy oz coin except for the markings on the reverse side that indicate the weight and face value of the coin (for example, 1 OZ. FINE GOLD&mdash;50 DOLLARS). As is often the case with bullion coins, the face values of these coins ($5, $10, $25 and $50; reflecting the fact that the coins are  legal tender ) are not consistently proportional to their weights, are mostly symbolic, and do not reflect their value as expressed in Federal Reserve Notes (U.S.). However, in a setback for the I.R.S., a Las Vegas jury refused to convict nine defendants on any of the 116 charges brought against them valuing Gold eagles with their legal tender value for tax purposes. The jury hung because it could not decide if the defendants were aware that they had to declare the market value of the coins, not their face value.

Proofs
The United States Mint is currently scheduled to release the 2011 American Eagle Gold Proof Coins on April 21, 2011.