10 Denominations of U.S. Gold Coins
When the United States Mint first began operating in Philadelphia in 1792, it first struck coins made of silver (half dimes in 1792) and copper (half cents and cents in 1793) since coins of those metals were used widely in commerce in the 18th century.
U.S. gold coins were first struck in 1795 when it made $5 and $10 gold coins. Eventually, other denominations were issued. In fact, while many people do not know this, and think only four exist, U.S. gold coins have been issued in a total of 10 different denominations over the past 228 years!
That is the case when one includes three basic types of legal tender American gold coins: those that circulated at one time; those aimed at bullion investors; and the many numismatic gold coins produced specially for collectors such as commemoratives and special issues.
Four main denominations
Depending on whether you are more familiar with classic U.S. gold coins (meaning coins issued before 1933) or modern U.S. gold coins (issued since 1986 as American Gold Eagles), you probably think that U.S. gold coins are produced in four denominations.
For classic gold coins that were used in commerce until 1933, those denominations are $2.50 or quarter-eagle, $5 (half eagle), $10 (eagle) and $20 (double eagles). The two larger gold coins, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries, were mostly used for bank and trade transactions.
For modern American Gold Eagles, the four denominations are different. They are also based on the weight of the respective coins, although their face values are much lower than their gold melt values.
$5 Gold Eagles have a tenth of an ounce of gold; $10 Gold Eagles have a quarter ounce of gold; $25 Gold Eagles have half an ounce of gold; and $50 Gold Eagles have a full ounce of gold. Some buyers of these gold coins have long maintained that their face values are too low and that they should be higher because of their precious metal content.
Modern $5 gold commemoratives are an interesting case. They are struck in the same alloy (90% fine gold combined with 10% copper) that was used on gold half eagles that circulated from 1795 to 1932 so the coins would not be too soft to use in commerce. These modern issues, like classic Gold Half Eagles, have .24187 ounces of gold. This makes $5 gold commemoratives issued since 1984an interesting bridge between the two eras in U.S. gold coinage.
Other denominations
Other denominations of U.S. gold coins were issued in the past too. They include:Gold dollars struck in three different types between 1849 and 1889; $3 gold pieces, which were only issued from 1854 to 1889; and $4 gold coins known as Stellas that were issued for an even shorter period, just in 1879 and 1880.
Gold dollars of the Liberty type were issued from 1889 to 1854, while two other types were issued that are known as Indian Head Princess coins struck in 1854 to 1856 and 1856 to 1859.
$3 gold coins are an odd denomination whose utility remains unclear, especially since there were quarter eagles at the time. They were useful at the time of issuance for purchasing 100 of the new 3 cent stamps.
$4 gold coins were essentially pattern pieces devised to be used in international trade in the 19th century. They are included with regular gold coin types because one of them — the 1879 Flowing Hair coin — has been widely available over the years for those who can afford it.
So far that makes a total of nine different denominations of U.S. gold coins that have been issued so far by the United States Mint.
There is one more that has not been mentioned yet, and that is the $100 gold coins issued for the American Liberty high-relief gold coin and silver medal series that began in 2015.
The $100 denomination for those coins was inspired by a coin that had been proposed in 1876 by George T. Morgan for a 5-ounce gold coin that would have a $100 denomination, or the equivalent of five $20 Double Eagles.
Classic American Gold Quarter Eagle
The first six types of $2.50 gold coins include those struck in 1796 that were of the design type known as Capped Bust Right with no stars on the obverse unlike later versions. These are major rarities very few collectors will ever be able to afford.
Far more collectors own the Liberty Head $2.50 gold pieces that were produced from 1840 all the way to 1907. They were replaced in 1908 with the Indian Head quarter-eagle struck until 1929.
Half eagles
$5 gold half eagles were struck from 1795 to 1929.
The six early versions of this coin (Capped Bust, Draped Bust, Capped Head and Classic Head plus two sub-types) are rare and expensive pieces to acquire in most cases.
The two more plentiful and more widely collected types of half eagles are the Liberty Head and Indian Head coins. The first was issued from 1839 to 1866 with no motto on the reverse, which was added in 1866 by law. The coins with motto were produced until 1908.
Bela Lyon Pratt’s incuse Indian Head design for this coin was struck from 1908 to 1929. These coins are viewed as hard to grade because of the incuse surfaces, and examples that grade above MS-63 are scarce.
Gold Eagles
Eagles were the foundation of the currency system in the U.S. until 1849. The earliest gold eagles are of the Capped Bust Right type and were first struck in 1795–1797 with a small eagle on the reverse, which was changed in 1797 to a Heraldic eagle.
The Liberty Head $10 eagle was issued without a motto on the reverse from 1838 to 1866 and with motto until 1907. The coins with motto are much more plentiful.
In 1907 August Saint-Gaudens’ Indian Head $10 coin that remainsvery popular with collectors today was struck first with no motto on the reverse. In 1908 the motto was added. Once again the coins with motto are more widely available.
Gold Double Eagles
In 1849 Congress created two new denominations of gold coins: $1 and $20 to help convert the gold discovered in the West in the 19th century into coins.
The $20 coins, known as Double Eagles, because in 1849 the highest denomination was the $10 eagle coin. They exist in two main design types: Liberty Head and Saint-Gaudens.
The Liberty Head coins, which were designed by James Longacre, were issued from 1849 to 1866 without the American motto on their reverses surrounded by 13 stars appearing below the inscription, “United States of America”. In 1866 the motto was added, and that type was struck until 1876. Finally, from 1877 to 1907 the denomination inscription on the reverse was changed from “Twenty D.” to “Twenty Dollars”.
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles are best known for their hugely popular design that was also the inspiration for the obverse of the modern American Gold Eagle.
A small number of these coins were struck in 1907 in high relief with no motto and Roman numerals. After the design’s relief was lowered to make it possible to strike more coins, they were issued later in 1907 and in 1908 with Arabic numerals.
In 1908 the motto was added to the reverse at the bottom above the rising sun. Millions of this type were produced and many still exist in amazing states of preservation. This type was struck until 1933.
Modern American Gold
In addition to the four sizes and weight of American Gold Eagle coins issued since 1986, there are many other modern U.S. legal tender gold coins. They include, for example, $5 and $10 gold commemoratives. As mentioned, the $5 pieces have denominations and weights based on the classic quarter eagle, and they are the most frequently issued modern U.S. gold commemorative.
$10 gold commemoratives contain the weight of a classic gold eagle (.4837 ounces) and were only issued in 1983–1984 for the Los Angeles Olympiad; in 2003 for the First Flight Centennial; and 2020 for the Mayflower 400th anniversary gold coin. It was also used in 2000 for the Library of Congress bimetallic gold and platinum coin.
In addition, the First Spouse gold coin series that was issued from 2007 to 2016 and again in 2020 is also denominated as $10 gold coins, making this a very widely used denomination on U.S. gold coins.
As for $25 gold coins, they include not just $25 Gold Eagles but also certain special issues like the 2020-W 75th anniversary of World War II gold coin that the Mint struck without congressional approval.
$25 coins made of palladium have been issued since 2017 in the American Palladium Eagle program.
$100 gold coins have been issued every other year since 2015 when the American Liberty gold coin program debuted. $100 coins have also been issued in platinum since 1997 with the American Platinum Eagle program.
Type collectors of U.S. gold coins in the past usually put together sets of Liberty and Indian head/Saint-Gaudens4 or 8-piece gold sets — sometimes with the gold dollars and $3 coin added for a 10-piece set or 12-piece set with each gold dollar type.
Another interesting type set could be based on the 10 denominations of gold coins discussed above that include a wide range of beautiful classic and modern gold coins. It could be expanded over time by adding the various design types of each denomination.
