The official United States platinum bullion coin is the American Platinum Eagles. First released in’97 by the United States Mint, the coin consists of. 9995 platinum and can be purchased in 1/10, 1/4, 1/2 or 1 troy ounces. The United States Congress has fully authorized this beautiful coin, and the U. S. Mint backs it for content and weight.

Uncirculated coins are popular with coin collectors. These coins, known as proof coins, have drawings on them for every year.

From’07 to’33 the graphic created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens was selected for use on the $20 gold piece.’86 saw the resurrection of the graphic for the coins. Available in bullion and proof, these coins can be purchased by anyone. Also shown on some coins is Walking Liberty design by Adolph A. Weinman. Created originally in’16, the graphic was used on the half dollar.

Vistas of Liberty graphics were available for purchase from’98 through 2002 on the proofs of the American Platinum Eagle. Regardless of what was changed about the coin the bald eagle has always appeared on one side with differing areas of the U. S. Each year. In 2006, the graphic changed to the three branches of government. Each year through 2008 a different branch was represented. The graphics were called the The Foundations of Democracy. All denominations have the yearly design. These coins are the only ones with changing graphics every year.

The United States Mint offers proof styles of the coins for collectors. These coins go through a special process when being minted that starts with feeding empty coins into presses that contain special stains. The coin is then struck several times so the glazed, featured images appear to hover over a mirror-like area. Inspectors then seal these coins in a protective covering and mount them in special presentation cases with their own official Certificate of Authenticity. Because all these coins are manufactured by the U. S. Mint all of them are guaranteed to be the same.

Uncirculated coins were added to the eagle coin family in 2006.

As with its proof counterpart the coin can be purchased in a one-ounce size. The other American Eagle Uncirculated Coins are available in different sizes.

Proof coins and uncirculated coins go through almost the exact same process. The main difference is the uncirculated coins are stamped with a W to show that they were minted at West Point.

The downside to these coins is that the do not increase in value because of their metal content. The obvious benefit is that they can be placed into investment accounts to earn money. Rare coins cannot be put in these accounts because they do increase in value as collectibles.

Gerald Hampton writes articles for coin collectors and investors, helping them find information on third-party graded Platinum Eagles, including hard to find NGC Certified Platinum Eagles along with PCGS Certified Platinum Eagles.