A gold Buffalo vs Gold Eagle question

dennis1219

My question may seem a little on the “ captain obvious” side...but unless I am looking at the wrong, the Gold Buffalo has 1 oz of pure gold... where as the Eagle is .9157 oz. of gold... Getting directly to the question... Do I get the same content of gold if I buy either of these seeing as the Eagle weight is 1.0909 oz.?

A second question for experienced gold buyers... I am looking to buy, for the simple reason of passing on to my kids. Do you believe buying Buffaloes over Eagles will be the better investment 20 years down the road due to their low mintages. Thank you for considering my questions.

dpoole

Both coins have the same amount of gold. The Eagle has silver and copper added for durability.

I like both coins. for their aesthetics. I 'd think for your children down the road, either would be a fine depository of gold bullion. Whether collectors will exist then that worry about relative mintages, I have no idea.

Jinx86

91.67% gold (22 karat), 3% silver, and 5.33% copper. That slash of silver changes the color just enough to stand out from other bullion.

I prefer the buffalos over eagles purely based on purity. I have several customers that love the design as well and have made date sets of them. They look fantastic in dasco albums.

Smudge

A slabbed pre 33 $20 gold piece common date can be had for little over bullion price. Maybe consider that.

thefinn

Botn have one ounce of gold. The AGE weighs more to make up for the alloy. They have the same fineness as the Krugerrand. I personally don't like the look of the AGE because they look Brassy. The advantage of AGEs or AGBs is that they are not taxed like the $20 Libs or Saints._

derryb

If buying for investment based on mintage, consider the W mint mark uncirc. AGEs.

PerryHall

I like both the AGE's and the AGB's with a slight preference for the AGB's since I've read that the gold bullion buyers in Asia greatly prefer pure 999 fine gold. My favorite gold bullion play are common date slabbed double eagle which can be bought at near melt.

hchcoin

I remember a doomsday prepper relative showing his collection of gold and guns out of his safe during a holiday gathering telling everyone to only buy the buffalo's because they were pure 999 fine gold. He acted like the gold eagles were junk. Whenever I have sold, no one ever cared which one it was (buffalo or eagle) and my price was always for 1 ounce of gold regardless.

ricko

Either way, and ounce of gold... I really like the Buff design though... However, for gold stacking, either one is good.... Cheers, RickO

derryb

MS 69's that can be had near the raw price should be scooped up.

Downtown1974

@derryb said:
MS 69's that can be had near the raw price should be scooped up.

Yup, That’s the only gold I buy.

JohnnyCache

2006 buffalos, in particular, can often be bought close to spot.
I purchased this one that way a while ago.

DrBuster

Any gov mint issued gold as close to spot as possible, coins or bullion. If Antarctica issued a gold/silver coin I’d have all the continents covered for variety in the pirate chest......yarrrr!

mariner67

@PerryHall said:
I like both the AGE's and the AGB's with a slight preference for the AGB's since I've read that the gold bullion buyers in Asia greatly prefer pure 999 fine gold. My favorite gold bullion play are common date slabbed double eagle which can be bought at near melt.

I have also heard/read somewhee in the past that this is a deciding factor for most asian buyers...they prefer the higher purity.

PerryHall

@mariner67 said:

@PerryHall said:
I like both the AGE's and the AGB's with a slight preference for the AGB's since I've read that the gold bullion buyers in Asia greatly prefer pure 999 fine gold. My favorite gold bullion play are common date slabbed double eagle which can be bought at near melt.

I have also heard/read somewhee in the past that this is a deciding factor for most asian buyers...they prefer the higher purity.

Asians want pure gold rather than gold that's been contaminated with some cheap base metal such as copper. When gold coins actually circulated as money, it was necessary to add copper to harden the gold so the coins could better withstand the rigors of circulation. Since gold coins are no longer circulating as money, the copper alloy is no longer needed.

TwoSides2aCoin

The question is: what weighs more ?
And the answer is : the one that's worth more. (Not necessarily)

I could be wrong, but I doubt that.

The Eagle is not .9167 gold per se. It is one ounce of pure 24k gold.
That's 31.1 grams plus copper mostly. And as mentioned a little silver. ( another couple grams). It weighs 33.931 g.

The Buffalo is one ounce of pure gold. That's 31.1 grams.

I prefer buffaloes. It's what I hope to leave each grandchild.

Might I suggest a Red Book ?

As to future values; ask cohodk.
My fingers stink from trying to pick the bottom.

jdimmick

Intresting note:

Before the drop , last thur to be exact. Had an old customer said she was bringing 41 oz of gold in. She said they were American eagles. So I quoted her spot minus 3% (which is our typical buy price), well it just so happens when she comes in, not only is it American eagles, but includes 9 buffalo's . Also, all the gold 1 oz coins were proof. Velvet box, coa but no outer boxes on any of it. Thinking that actually maybe I can make an extra percent or too, I called to check on price from three of the major buyers, and found out that actually , they were paying less for proofs, than unc's.

for example , the best price I got on proof age with no outer box was spot minus 20 bucks, but they would pay spot minus 5 on BU age's buffalo were worse, they were spot minus $25. A friend of mine who was there, who actually helped me cover the deal in cash , kept it all. Course come tues, he really took a hit!

jmski52

@dennis1219 said: I am looking to buy, for the simple reason of passing on to my kids. Do you believe buying Buffaloes over Eagles will be the better investment 20 years down the road due to their low mintages. Thank you for considering my questions.

I got a late start in collecting Gold Buffs, and it's not too easy to find some of the Unc dates. It's hard to say what the collector market will be doing 20 years from now, but in any event both AGEs and Buffs will still be 1 oz of gold, and I believe that gold will at least have held its value. I suspect that interest in both generic gold and collector gold will be increasing and not decreasing over this time frame.

A low mintage analogy would be the 1991 1/2 oz. AGE coins. They weren't slabbed in any quantity and they held nominal premiums for many years - hiding in plain sight. Over the past 15 years or so, they have developed high premiums in both raw and graded - and I don't even think that there are very many collectors of the series. It's just that the market knows that they aren't to be found. That's the case for a low mintage dates, but jumping into the right coin at the right time is simply hard to do, if not impossible. It's all about serendipity, but it's a thrill if you hit it right.

Looking at the "collector versions" of both the AGEs and the Gold Buffs - there has been waning interest in everything the Mint has produced for quite a few years. The high premiums charged by the Mint are a deterrent in attracting new collectors and the metals markets have been in decline for about 7 years, so there's been sort of a convergence of negative variables affecting gold coins lately. I think that these types of cycles are normal in markets, and the metals & coin markets are no different than most other markets in that regard. So, your longterm view is appropriate and it's better to buy in a subdued market anyway - if you have the disposable funds.

Gold Eagles vs. Gold Buffs is simply splitting hairs. Buy what you like. I like them all.