Established by the Coinage Act of 1792, the United States Mint is the federal body responsible for American coinage. Its bullion gold coins are struck primarily at the West Point facility in New York, whose vaults are among the largest gold depositories in the country.
The Mint entered the modern bullion market in 1986 with the American Gold Eagle, authorized by the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, and added America’s first pure-gold bullion coin — the American Gold Buffalo — in 2006. Both are backed by the US government’s guarantee of weight and content, a meaningful assurance in a market where counterfeits exist.
The Mint’s designs draw on America’s richest numismatic heritage: the Eagle revives Saint-Gaudens’ celebrated 1907 Liberty, and the Buffalo faithfully adapts Fraser’s 1913 Buffalo nickel.