1/10th oz. Gold American Liberty Proof Coin for 2018

It was only back on April6, 2017, that the US Mint released a very special Liberty Gold coin. The 2017 1-oz Gold American Liberty High-Relief Proof coin was released to commemorate the 225th anniversary of the Mint, and it is only the second time they have struck a gold coin in a $100 denomination. Since it is currently selling for $1,690, it would be outside the price-range of many collectors, remarkable as this coin is. Wanting to widen the market, the Mint has announced that for 2018, they will be offering something new. The same coin will be produced as a fractional coin, that is, one with less than one troy ounce of gold in it. The coin will contain just one-tenth of an ounce of gold, bringing it within the range of a much larger audience.

This is not the first one-tenth ounce gold coin made by the Mint, as in 2017 they released the American Eagle coin in that size, but not in the same purity, as that coin is only 97.67% gold, not the 99.99% purity the new coin will be. Currently the American Eagle gold coin offers the largest range of sizes, as it is available in one-ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce and one-tenth-ounce sizes. This means a wider range of collectors can add one to their collections, and with the price of gold currently low, relative to its peak in 2012, many people see its current price as a low-point, with future highs to come. The availability of lower-priced coins will allow more people to invest in gold, and provide smaller units for re-sale, allowing better strategic activity.

The new coin is still in the planning stage, but enthusiasm for it is already high, and the Mint chose to announce the news at the June 21 meeting in Washington, D.C. of the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee. The Committee was established in 2003 to be an impartial advisor to the Mint, drawn from citizens and collectors, so clearly the Mint was looking for feedback on the value of this release, and it seems they got a very positive response.

The coin would have exactly the same design as the 1-oz American Liberty Gold coin, with an African American Lady Liberty wearing a crown of over-sized stars on the obverse, and the American Eagle on the reverse. While the 1-oz coin is denominated at $100, the new coin would have a face value of $10, and the words ‘1/10 oz. .9999 FINE GOLD beside the eagle. It would not however have the high relief design that makes the 1-oz. coin unique, or the dual dates of 1792-2017 on that coin. Still, this 24-carat coin is sure to be a big hit with collectors, and although at this point it is not intended to mark the beginning of a series, that remains a distinct possibility, so as the first coin it would have added collector value, and getting into a series at the beginning is always a good strategy. Collectors will be holding their breath over the coming months for more news.