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Perfect First Year of Issue Uncirculated American Platinum Eagle at GreatCollections

MS-70 American Platinum Eagle at Great Collections

By CoinWeek ….
On Sunday, May 26, bidding ends on GreatCollectons.com for this 1997 $100 American Eagle 1 oz Platinum Eagle coin. Graded MS-70 by PCGS, this .9995 fine platinum eagle coin is an excellent example of the inaugural release of the popular Platinum Eagle series.

platinum eagleOut of an original mintage of 56,000 Uncirculated coins, this is one of only two coins reported by PCGS at a grade of 70 (obviously, there are none finer). To get an idea of the general quality of the issue, PCGS reports 242 grading events at MS-69 and 482 graded overall. In contrast, NGC lists 13 examples graded MS-70 but the spread from MS-69 isn’t that different from over at PCGS, with 208 grading events reported at NGC.

The highest price for a PCGS MS-70 was achieved just over two years ago in January 2017, when a specimen went for $28,200 USD (including buyer’s premium). Interestingly, the second- and third-highest prices were garnered over 10 years ago when pieces sold for $16,800 and $13,440 in 2007 and 2006, respectively. This suggests that prices tend to go higher in anniversary years for the series.

To see how the coin has performed on GreatCollections, be sure to check out their Auction Archives of over 600,000 certified coins sold in the past seven years. At the time of publication, this MS-70 1997 American Platinum Eagle is going for $7,000 after nine bids.

Background

On June 6, 1997, the first Platinum American Eagle Proof coin was issued directly to the coin-collecting public by the United States Mint (the Bullion version was sold through the Mint’s authorized dealers). In addition to the 1oz coins, the Mint produced fractional denominations of 1/2 oz ($50), 1/4 oz ($25), and 1/10 oz ($10) through 2008.

The obverse of the Platinum Eagle features the “Portrait of Liberty” design featuring a close-up image of the Statue of Liberty’s face created by then-Chief Engraver of the US Mint John M. Mercanti, who is also responsible for the reverse of the imminently popular American Silver Eagle. The reverse of the 1997 issue depicts “Soaring Eagle over America”: an eagle in mid-flight with the sun and its sharp rays shining behind it, reminiscent of the sun on the obverse of the Saint-Gaudens $20 double eagle gold coin. Mint sculptor-engraver Thomas D. Rogers created the reverse design.

All Uncirculated strikes were minted at Philadelphia, while the Proofs were struck at West Point.

CoinWeek
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Coinweek is the top independent online media source for rare coin and currency news, with analysis and information contributed by leading experts across the numismatic spectrum.

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