A beautiful 2018 American Buffalo 1 ounce gold coin. The Gold Buffalo is America's first ever one ounce 24-carat gold coin; it was originally produced to compete with other foreign pure gold coins, as some collectors prefer pure coins. It has a legal tender value of $50, just like the other main US bullion coin the American Eagle.
The 2018 coin is the 13th edition of the American Buffalo coin, produced by the US Mint in West Point, New York.
The obverse of the coin is detailed with the word Liberty and an F mark, to indicate it is a design by American sculptor James Earle Fraser.
The image on this side of the coin is the profile of a Native American. It first appeared in 1913 on the Buffalo Nickel and is roughly based on the American Indian chieftains Iron Tail (Sioux), Big Tree (Kiowa), and Two Moons (Cheyenne), all of whom sat to be drawn by Fraser at different points in time.
The reverse of the coin reads United States of America across the top, and is accompanied by the latin motto E Pluribus Unum - “Out of many, one” – just above the buffalo’s back. The phrase ‘In God We Trust’ also appears, and has done so on US gold coins since 1908.
The image of an American Buffalo was also copied from the Buffalo Nickel. It is heavily rumoured to be that of Black Diamond, a buffalo from Central Park Zoo during the early 20th century.