While I was in surgery, the US Mint announced that they will be accepting orders for the new American Buffalo 24-karat Gold Coins starting on July 22, 2008. In addition to the one ounce coin that has been issued since 2006, the Mint will add half ounce ($25), quarter ounce ($10), and one-tenth ounce ($5) fractional issues. They will also sell a four-coin sets that contain one coin in each size.

I was curious as to what premium the Mint was putting on these coins. Using the spot price of $975.10 (as of market close, 4:00 PM on July 15), I took the Mint’s announced price of these coins to create the following table:

Option	Price	Metal Value	Premium	Premium Pct
Proof One Ounce	$1,199.95	$975.10	$224.85	23.06%
Proof Half Ounce	$619.95	$487.55	$132.40	27.16%
Proof Quarter Ounce	$329.95	$243.78	$86.18	35.35%
Proof Tenth-Ounce	$159.95	$97.51	$62.44	64.03%
Proof Four-Coin Set	$2,219.95	$1,803.94	$416.02	23.06%
Uncirculated One Ounce	$1,059.95	$975.10	$84.85	8.70%
Uncirculated Half-Ounce	$539.95	$487.55	$52.40	10.75%
Uncirculated Quarter-Ounce	$289.95	$243.78	$46.18	18.94%
Uncirculated Tenth-Ounce	$129.95	$97.51	$32.44	33.27%
Uncirculated Four-Coin Set	$1,959.95	$1,803.94	$156.02	8.65%

If you are into buying gold coins for investment purposes, it looks like the uncirculated one-ounce and multi-coin sets are the best bargains. Since I am not an investor, I will be purchasing the proof one-ounce coin to go with my 2006 and 2007 coins.

Labels: gold, US Mint