We used a previous post to discuss the rich world of bullion coins, citing some collector favorites like China’s Gold Panda, South Africa’s Krugerrand, and Australia’s Gold Nugget. They are but a small sampling of the world’s bullion coins. In this post, we’ll highlight three more coins from three other countries.

The Maple Leaf: When collectors think about bullion coin variety, Canada’s Maple Leaf coin is at the top of the list. First minted in 1979, the Maple Leaf comes in gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and bi-metallic (silver and gold) varieties. Maple Leaf coins are also among the purest in the world, with some special editions reaching a gold purity level of .99999 millesimal fineness. Furthermore, gold Maple Leaf coins come in sizes of 1/20 ozt, 1/15 ozt, 1/10 ozt, 1/5 ozt, 1/4 ozt, 1/2 ozt, 1 ozt, 10 kg, and (make sure you are sitting down) 100 kg. In 2007, the Royal Canadian mint created the 100 kg coin as a promotional product. However, it sparked genuine demand among collectors, so the mint continues to produce them on a special order basis. The coins are 50 cm in diameter, 3 cm thick, and carry a face value of $1 million – although it contains (at current market values) over $5 million in gold.

American Buffalo: The United States produces several different kinds of bullion coins and the American Buffalo coin is among its most popular. Like the Maple Leaf, the Buffalo is very pure, with a pure gold content of .9999. The art on the America Buffalo coin is based on the old, yet beloved among collectors, design of the “Indian Head” nickel, which was minted from 1913 to 1938. The obverse side of the coin features a portrait of a Native American while the reverse side depicts an iconic American bison. American Buffalo coins are currently available in only a 1 ozt size.

Saint George the Victorious: One of the most venerated saints, Saint George is perhaps best known for his heroism. The legend goes that a certain village was dependant on a particular spring for all their water needs. However, the spring was guarded by a vicious dragon that needed to be distracted with food before villagers could collect water. When no livestock were available, villagers drew straws to determine which among them would “distract” the dragon. When their princess drew the shortest straw, the village was in despair. Fortunately, before the dragon could take the princess, Saint George rode in and valiantly slew the beast. Russia honors Saint George with his own bullion coins (in silver and gold) depicting him slaying the dragon.

The bullion coins of the world have a twofold purpose: to serve as a store of value and act as a sort of country-specific memorabilia. Many people buy bullion coins as an investment because they are made of precious metal. Yet, because each country produces unique iterations – some of which change yearly – they are almost like hyper-valuable trading cards. This makes the world of bullion coins very colorful indeed.

Collectors and investors alike have their favorite coins. Countries release different types of coins, sometimes in gold, silver, platinum, and even palladium. For this post, we’ll take a look at some popular gold bullion coins from around the world.
 
The Gold Nugget: Coming in a wide range of weights (1/20 ozt, 1/10 ozt, 1/4 ozt, 1/2 ozt, 1 ozt, 2 ozt, 10 ozt, 1 kg) and a new design every year, the Australian Gold nugget is one of the most versatile bullion coins. It was first produced in 1986 and featured pictures of famous gold nuggets discovered in Australia. Later on, the coin featured different species of kangaroo instead – which are more associated with Australia. As result, the coins are sometimes called “gold kangaroos.” This coin is 99.99% pure gold.
 
The Gold Panda: Since 1982, China’s famous bullion coin has featured a new panda portrait on its reverse side every year. The obverse (front or “heads”) side depicts the temple of heaven. Collectors were once in an uproar over the coin in 2002 when China decided to stop introducing a new panda design every year. As such, the 2002 coins looked exactly like the 2001 coins. However, China responded to the public outcry and switched back to using new yearly designs in 2003. Gold Pandas are available in 1/20 ozt, 1/10 ozt, 1/4 ozt, 1/2 ozt, and 1 ozt weights and contain 99.9% pure gold.

The Krugerrand: The South African Krugerrand is one of the oldest and most popular bullion coins for investors. First issued in 1967, it accounted for 90% of the gold coin market by 1980. The coin gets its name from former President Paul Kruger and the rand – the unit of currency in South Africa. The Krugerrand’s composition is 91.67% pure gold. The rest is copper, with makes the coin more resistant to wear (the Krugerrand was originally intended to circulate as normal currency). It weighs 1.09 troy ounces and contains exactly 1 ozt. of gold.

Although their intrinsic value is linked to millesimal fineness and weight, bullion tend be worth slightly more in the coin market because of production costs and collectability. Since Manhattan Gold & Silver is a precious metal refiner, our payout for bullion coins is based solely on its metal content. Using the information provided above and the London Fix, you can determine what your nuggets, pandas, and Krugerrands are worth.

In the year 2000, the US released a newly minted dollar coin for public circulation called the Sacagawea dollar, named after the Native American guide that crucially assisted the famous American explores Lewis and Clark. It’s colloquially known as the golden dollar, but it contains no actual gold.

Rather, the Sacagawea dollar gets its trademark golden color using a copper core clad by manganese brass (this also explains why the coin is relatively light). Of course, the face of the coin bears an artist’s interpretation of Sacagawea (no contemporary image of the real Sacagawea exists) and the opposite side of the coin has undergone several design changes over the years. However, several thousand coins were once minted with a very curious error.

Shortly after the Sacagawea coin was released to the public, a small batch was discovered in a bank in Arkansas with a major design error. Instead of Sacagawea’s portrait, the coins were mistakenly minted with the same design as the US state quarter and featured George Washington instead.

Such an error was not unheard of at the time. Coins mistakenly minted with the wrong design are known as “mule coins” in the field of numismatics and are highly sought after.

The faulty coins were traced back to the Philadelphia mint where they were immediately impounded to keep them out of circulation. The coins that did manage to reach circulation are considered very valuable and have sold for as much as $200,000 apiece.

That’s a large sum for a non-gold coin!