According to a recent news feature published on coinnews.net, several current US Mint Gold Coins were slated for a price drop on Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Among the ones designated for a decline in price are the American Eagles coins, American Buffalos coins, First Spouse coins and Commemorative coins. The price drop is a result of the Mint’s policy to carry out adjustments in its numismatic gold coins when the prevalent gold prices fluctuate. The prevailing threshold prices of the American mint numismatic gold products stands between $1,700.00 and $1,749.99 per ounce. The latest value of the average would be slightly below $1,700 per ounce.

The price drop is expected unless gold prices rise above $1,748 per ounce or more for the AM FIX on Wednesday or $1,700 per ounce or more for the PM FIX. These odds aren’t that substantial considering that the current spot price of gold is $1,635 per ounce. Keeping price adjustments in perspective, the United States mint is expected to stop selling numismatic gold products temporarily, in order to reintroduce the expected prices. The last time the price of numismatic coins was adjusted was on November 23, 2011.

US Mint Gold Coins: An Overview
Till 1933, the United States minted gold coins which were used for commercial purposes, within and outside the boundaries of the country. They were commonly used for carrying out overseas trade related transactions. Whereas some variants of these coins were minted in hundreds, others were produced in the millions. There were six denominations available. These included the $20 Double Eagle, the $10 Eagle, the $5 Half Eagle, the $3 gold piecr, the $2.5 Quarter Eagle and the $1.00 coin. The total volume of mintage across eight prominent mints went over 100 million coins. Sadly, however, only a few of these rare coins can be found today. Most of them have been reportedly lost or destroyed. There was heavy attrition of original mintages. According to a rough estimate, 95% of these original coins have been lost to collector hoarding, or melted down. Therefore, if you are on the lookout for rare coins for investment purposes, the possibility of coming across fakes is fairly high. Thus, it is important to purchase these coins from reputable sources.

Where Have These Coins Gone?
Gold coins were melted twice in American history. As a result of these melting operations, US mint gold coins were transformed from common transactional money to long term investment options. The first meltdown was performed in 1834, when the percentage of gold in coins was reduced and all of the coins that were minted from 1794 to 1834 were melted because their intrinsic value had become higher than their face value. Subsequently, there was the Great Gold Confiscation in 1933. This was when almost 95% coins owned by banks or individuals were called back by the Treasury and melted to form gold bars. This marked the end of the usage of gold coins as legal currency in the United States. Whatever remains of the gold coins in today’s markets are rare and a part of investment portfolios as well as collectibles.

Owing to its rarity, US gold coins that aren’t easily obtainable, command a high price. This is because a marginal increase in demand is enough to cause phenomenal price hikes. This fact has been emphasized by one of the most renowned success stories of gold coin investment by Harold S. Bareford, a New York Based Attorney. Between 1945 to 1955, Bareford managed to successfully create one of the rarest collections worth $13,832 and was auctioned in 1978, it fetched $1,287,215 for these US mint gold coins.