How much is a Gold Eagle worth?
Specification
| Gross weight | 33.931 g |
|---|---|
| Fineness | 916.7 (91.67%) |
| 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 | 1986 |
About this coin
The most traded gold coin in the United States, and the one most people mean when they say "a gold coin". It is 22 carat, alloyed with silver and copper for hardness, which is why it weighs 33.931g while containing exactly one troy ounce of gold. Weighing one on a scale and multiplying by spot overstates it by about 9%.
A 1907 sculpture on a 1986 coin
Congress created this coin with the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, and the Mint reached back eighty years for its face: the striding Liberty that Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculpted for the 1907 double eagle, a design plenty of collectors still call the most beautiful ever put on American money. The reverse changed in mid-2021 - the family-of-eagles scene gave way to a close portrait of an eagle head, so "Type 1" and "Type 2" now mean before and after that switch. Both types carry identical gold and trade at the same melt value.
What makes the Eagle the default American coin is not the design, though. It is that every coin shop in the country recognises one on sight, quotes one without hesitation, and has sold one that week. When you eventually sell, that recognition is worth real money.
Why it weighs more than an ounce
The Eagle is deliberately 22 carat: one full troy ounce of gold, hardened with silver and copper into a coin that shrugs off handling. Pure gold is soft enough to scratch with a fingernail; an Eagle is built to survive being actual money. The price of that durability is a gross weight of 33.931 grams, and it produces the single most common mistake we see - weighing the coin, multiplying by spot, and "discovering" an extra 9% of value that is copper and silver.
One more practical point: the Eagle is the notable exception written into the IRA rules, which normally demand .995 fineness. A 22-carat Eagle is IRA-eligible by name; a 22-carat Krugerrand is not.
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 Eagle 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. Eagles complicate this because the coin is heavier than the gold in it.
- How much does a Gold Eagle weigh?
- 33.931 grams gross at 916.7 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. Multiplying the gross weight by the spot price would overstate this coin by about 9.1%.
- Who makes the Gold Eagle and is it legal tender?
- It is struck by the United States Mint in United States, first issued in 1986. It carries a face value of $50, which is symbolic - the gold in it is worth many times that.
- What is the difference between a Type 1 and Type 2 Eagle?
- The reverse design. Type 1 (1986 to mid-2021) shows a family of eagles over a nest; Type 2 (mid-2021 onward) shows an eagle head in profile. Gold content is identical, and for melt purposes the type does not matter - though some date and type combinations carry small collector premiums.
- Can I hold Gold Eagles in an IRA?
- Yes. Precious-metals IRAs normally require .995 fineness, which a 22-carat coin fails - but the tax code names the American Gold Eagle as an explicit exception. It is the only 22-carat coin with that carve-out, which is part of why it dominates US retirement holdings.
- 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.