How much is a Gold Buffalo worth?
Specification
| Gross weight | 31.108 g |
|---|---|
| Fineness | 999.9 (99.99%) |
| Fine gold content | 31.105 g |
| Fine gold, troy oz | 1 |
| Diameter | 32.7 mm |
| Mint | United States Mint |
| Country | United States |
| Face value | $50 |
| First issued | 2006 |
About this coin
The first 24 carat coin the US Mint ever struck, introduced twenty years after the Eagle to compete with the Maple Leaf on purity. Because it is .9999 fine its gross weight is almost identical to its gold content, which makes it softer and easier to mark than the Eagle - collectors handle it carefully for that reason.
America answers the four nines
For twenty years the Mint watched buyers who wanted pure gold walk past the 22-carat Eagle to buy Canadian Maple Leafs. The Buffalo, launched in 2006, was the answer: the first .9999 fine coin the United States ever struck. For its face it borrowed James Earle Fraser's 1913 Buffalo nickel - the Native American profile he composed from several chiefs who sat for him, and a bison whose model, by long tradition, was Black Diamond of the Central Park Zoo.
Pure gold behaves differently
Four-nines gold is soft. The Mint ships Buffalos in sealed plastic sheets rather than loose in tubes precisely because the coins mark if they so much as slide against each other. Collectors and buyers notice condition on Buffalos more than on Eagles, so resist the urge to free one for a better look - a Buffalo still in its uncut sheet answers every question a buyer might ask.
Choosing between the two American coins comes down to one trade: the Eagle survives handling and carries the IRA carve-out; the Buffalo is the real 24-carat article and the easier sell to purity-minded buyers, including much of the Asian market.
How this size compares
| Fine gold | 31.103 g |
|---|---|
| In troy ounces | 1 ozt |
| In pennyweights | 20 dwt |
| Equal to | 4.25 gold sovereigns |
| Bars per kilo | 32.15 of these make one kilo of gold |
Questions people ask
- How much is a Gold Buffalo worth today?
- Its gold content is worth $4,125.39 at the current spot price of $4,125.39 per troy ounce. That is the melt value - it contains 1 troy ounces of fine gold. A dealer will pay under this figure when buying and charge over it when selling. Buffalos are pure enough that gross weight and gold weight are, for once, almost the same number.
- How much does a Gold Buffalo weigh?
- 31.108 grams gross at 999.9 fineness, which is 31.105 grams of actual gold. The gross weight is what your scale reads; the fine weight is what it is worth.
- Who makes the Gold Buffalo and is it legal tender?
- It is struck by the United States Mint in United States, first issued in 2006. It carries a face value of $50, which is symbolic - the gold in it is worth many times that.
- Should I take my Buffalo out of the sealed Mint sheet?
- No. Pure gold scratches with almost any contact, and the uncut sheet is the strongest evidence of condition a private seller can offer. Cut coins are worth no less gold, but they invite closer inspection and slower deals.
- Buffalo or Eagle - which should I buy?
- Same gold, one ounce either way. The Eagle is harder-wearing, more widely recognised in US shops, and IRA-eligible. The Buffalo is .9999 pure, which some buyers - especially internationally - specifically want. Premiums usually sit within a percent of each other; when one is meaningfully cheaper, that answers the question.
- How current is this valuation?
- It is calculated live from the spot price, currently $4,125.39 per troy ounce from swissquote, read at 18:45 UTC. Nothing on this page is a cached daily figure.