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WEEKLY NEWS 2: New Gold Coin

The U.S. Mint is seeing gold!

The department announced on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, that the early stages of production on a new gold bullion coin would begin at the beginning of next year. The new coin is the U.S. Mint’s way of meeting the increasing international demand for purer gold coins.

Production of the gold coin would mark the first time the U.S. Mint has produced a 24-karat gold coin. A 24-karat gold coin would contain 99.99 percent gold. The coin would sell at prices far above face value to cash in on the world price of gold.

According to officials at the U.S. Mint, the estimated global market for 24-karat gold coins is approximately $2.4 billion a year. The U.S. Mint also concluded that about 60 percent of global gold coins are of 24-karats, including the top-selling Maple Leaf of Canada.

The new coin would be an addition to the 22-karat American Eagle gold bullion coin already produced by the department.

The authorization of the sale of the American Eagle coin was made by Congress in December 1985 after President Reagan banned imports of the South African gold Krugerrand. The coin went on sale nearly a year later in October 1986.

--Written by Leah Williams

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