A three-year series expressing core American principles debuts today at noon ET with the U.S. Mint’s release of the 2018-W Proof American Platinum Eagle.
The new proof platinum coin series celebrates the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence with design themes centered on Life, Liberty and Happiness.
This series is a continuation of the U.S. Mint’s 1-ounce .9995 American Platinum Eagle coin program which was introduced in 1997. In a reversal from past coins, the three from 2018 to 2020 feature different obverses (heads) against one common reverse (tails). (See their original line art designs.)
2018 American Platinum Eagle ‘Life’ Designs
The theme of ‘Life’ appears on the obverse of this year’s coin. It shows Lady Liberty teaching a small child to sow seeds in a field. A sword she carries is meant to symbolize the power to defend life with furrowed earth representing the forethought and labor required to sustain life. Nature is represented by the mountains, tree and stream suggesting the need to be good stewards of the environment.
Inscriptions include "LIBERTY," "IN GOD WE TRUST," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," "2018," "LIFE" and the artists’ initials.
Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Designer Justin Kunz created the design and United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill engraved it for use on coinage.
Created by AIP designer Patricia Lucas-Morris and engraved by former United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart, the coin’s revere depicts an eagle in flight with an olive branch in its talons. This same design will also appear on reverses of the 2019- and-2020-dated platinum coins.
Inscriptions around the eagle include "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "1 OZ.," ".9995 PLATINUM," "$100," a "W" for the coin’s production facility at West Point, and the artists’ initials.
Coin Specifications
| Denomination | $100 |
| Finish | Proof |
| Composition | 99.95% Platinum |
| Diameter | 1.287 inches (32.70 mm) |
| Weight | 1.0005 troy oz. (31.120 grams) |
| Thickness | 0.094 inch (2.39 mm) |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Maximum Mintage | 20,000 |
| Mint and Mint Mark | West Point – W |
| Obverse Design | Justin Kunz / Phebe Hemphill |
| Reverse Design | Patricia Lucas-Morris / Don Everhart |
Price, Mintage and Ordering
The new proof Platinum Eagle will be available for $1,420.00, although that price is subject to change weekly based on the U.S. Mint’s precious metal coin pricing policy.
No more than 20,000 sold, representing a 10,000 mintage increase over last year’s coin. In addition, an initial household order limit of one is in place.
Order the collectible straight from the United States Mint via this online product page.
Sales Update (Jan. 26)
First-day sales of the new proof Platinum Eagle rang in at 4,420 coins, U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White told CoinNews in an email Friday, Jan. 26.
Booooing!
High mintage but pretty design
Darrin Lee Unser –
There is an error in your “Coin Specifications” table which lists the mintage of this coin as 10,000 instead of 20,000.
A high mintage for sure for a platinum coin!
-NumisdudeTX
Seth, thanks. I fixed the error.
beautiful platinum coin on the obverse and the reverse. great job u.s. mint.
How many will sell? At least you might be able to complete the series unlike the 2015-2016 series that started out with such a small 2015 mintage. Thought the mintage would have been no more than 10,000.
chuck –
At a high mintage of 20,000 coins & a premium over spot price of platinum of $394, I feel this might not sell out soon even as a Proof quality & beautiful coin IMHO. But, it is a popular series overall since 1997, & I buy it every year out of habit! Lol
Happy collecting chuck!
-NumisdudeTX
Seth Riesling,
Agree it should “not sell out soon”. Just hope the mint does not do what it also did with the 2009-2014 series when they limited the 2014 to around 4,000 and all the other years had 8,000 or more. Do not like smaller numbers at the start 2015 (2015-2016) nor at the end 2014 (2009-2014).
chuck –
Agree totally. That 4,000 very low mintage in 2015 was way too low for any U.S. Mint coin! I almost missed getting that one due to high demand & very quick sellout. They should stick with about 10,000 for the $100 Proof Platinum Eagle series.
-NumisdudeTX
Seth-
Except for many of the spouses!
The eyes “closed” Platinum coin! Yiou buy it & close you eyes to the price above spot & 20k mintage, maybe no aftermarket leg$ on this puppy!??
I bought one because you never know how many were actually made. Could sell out at under 10,000. Maybe they put high mintage so peaple wouldn’t overload there website haha…why else put a limit of 1 per household could have been easily 3 I would think. Premium over spot does seam more that 2015-16 coins. I was debating whether I should just buy proof 70 but I messed up in 2014 and didn’t buy right away. Ended up paying $2950 for that one in proof 70 ultra cameo at the world fair of money Anaheim. Guy was asking $3450 not… Read more »
chuck –
Thanks for reminding me of those very low mintage First Spouse $10 gold coins! I only bought a few (about 10) over the 10-year series & only in Proof. I wish I could have afforded the entire series in Proof & Unc. since they are nice & the lowest mintage of any coin series I can think of by the Mint. I guess most collectors were in the same boat not wanting to buy about 80 gold coins in 10 years to have a complete set.
-NumisdudeTX
Seth, We have discussed the First Spouse several times. Still find it hard to believe the total for “Nancy” was under 5600 (proof and unc). They had put limited of one each- wrongfully thought it would sell out. Yes, would be nice to have set but only bought a few. Again it is a set that may never be completed (shame that the law was not so that they made it possible to buy others who are still living). However, still expect someday one will be offered for them too. If so, will be interesting to see demand on them.… Read more »
Only spouse I bought was Alice Paul who not only wasn’t a spouse but also was only a baby when her “president” died. 20,000 vs 10,000 – the mint obviously has nobody in charge of market research (really, really needing an MBA for this position) since it took you guys only a few minutes to figure out that not that many platinums are sold in a year. This is just another example of an over-reaction stab in the dark by a typical seat warmer incompetent running the mint instead of a director who takes responsibility for their decisions and is… Read more »
I’ve added the coin’s first-day sales at the bottom of the article. Have a great weekend!
The flippers and investors are in absolute dark on this one! Amount sold may end up very low due to announced mintage limit and household limit. This may be a big fish for collectors who value the coin itself rather than solely turning a 50%+ profit on a shipment they never intend on opening. I like this flip on a mint coin.
T
The Plat HH cap is 0FF…..just got 17…..jus kidding Lucy…….20k mintage will = no legs & will be on sale for awhile, flip who wants to pay $2k for this when you can get 15 or 16 or 17 w/like 20% or so of the 20k mintage of the 2018…..
Mike Unser,
Thank you for sales info.
Strange HH cap taken off on day “2”. So, did they strike to many?
I think the palladium coins are taking away from platinum coin sales. If I had enough money to throw around I’d get both. The US first issuing of a proof palladium coin is the winner for me.
T
Due to very low first-day sales of this $1420 platinum coin with an ultra-high mintage of 20,000, the Mint got scared again & lifted the 1 coin per household limit within 24 hours! They simply have no clue & never learn from their mistakes & missteps at the largest Mint in the world which has not had a Mint Director in 7 years! Unreal! Sad! – (As Trump would say).
-NumisdudeTX
I don’t understand the 20k mintage amount at all. I can’t imagine there are enough buyers for that amount even at 2 per collector. I guess they can just melt down the remains. Maybe they didn’t use all the blanks.
I think they were expecting the varying obverse to be a big draw. It would be if a palladium proof wasn’t introduced this year.
T
The palladium coin is a sore subject with me. The mint issuing it last year to the “bullion dealers” before to collectors was “sad”. Just shows who the favorite few are. Perhaps the HH limit was taken off too so that those dealers could save hundreds on shipping i.e. buy 100 or ? at a time.
Chuck, The 2017 Palladium eagle is a bullion coin. Just like gold, silver, and platinum eagle bullion coins, they are only released to authorized purchasers to be distributed to the dealers. Although we collect bullion coins, they are not collector coins. They are bullion coins, intended for investing in precious metal. There were plenty to go around if you acted early. I got 3 MS70 FDIO for $1300 each. Of course they are well over $2K for the same coin but that has nothing to do with the mints distribution of bullion coins. The mint does a lot of things… Read more »
Millhouse, The point is the Palladium coin (2017 bullion) was the first (palladium coin) issued by the mint. In my opinion, a proof should have been issued first. Also, if my memory is correct, the study they conducted indicated the mint might turn a “profit” on the proofs but not on bullion ones. (So, why not the “proof” first?! Certainly with the mints mark up on proofs versus bullion coins they would have made more!) As to the bullion dealers remember what the mint had to do to them when the first 5 oz ATB came out in 2010? All… Read more »
Finally, at least the mint did do collector ATB the first year in 2010. Sad they failed on the palladium one!
Chuck, I completely agree with you on the ATB coins. I was one of the, I don’t know how many, trying to get them from the dealers and it was the dealers that were ripping off the collectors/investors. One dealer had the audacity to force me to purchase a random year American Eagle in order to purchase one ATB coin back in 2010. I reported that dealer but it makes no difference. They all get away with murder at our expense. Not sure the mint can do anything about shady dealers. I actually don’t think the mint had time to… Read more »
Wondering why the Mint couldn’t have just issued a proof Palladium coin first in 2017 .. I mean they had such a paltry production in the first place. .. 15,000 .. and I think they struck it in high relief probably took extra care to do it .. so why did they give the AP’s first crack at it, other than to give them more opportunity to make more money off the collector who would want to have the first year’s issue and with a great design and a small production run ..
@Seth Riesling
It seems like the inmates have been running the Mint since Moy left and no one replaced him for 7 years …
If i’m wrong, then i’m wrong, but i cannot help but think, every since Mr. Moy left town, there’s been nothing but insider trading going on, Moy bow’d out gracefully for a nice job, but is that ”real” reason why?
Seth Riesling,
Millhouse,
Tinto,
Mike Unser,
Do you know whether there will be a 2018 palladium bullion coin issued by the mint? A collectors one apparently will be sold in the “fall”.
Wonder too what the mintage might be. Any word on this?
Will it be a repeat of the 2015 platinum eagle when no bullion coins were made and less than 4,000 proofs were sold.
Hope the mint will limit the HH limit to one at the start and have a “fair” number made.
Chuck, The plan is to have both but I wouldn’t hold my breath. It’s going to depend on how many blanks the mint can secure for both the proof and bullion coins. At this point I would bank on the proof coming out in the fall but not sure if/when the bullion will come out. I’m in for both though, as I feel this is perhaps the most beautiful coin the mint has ever produced. It blows away the platinum and silver eagles and the gold eagle would be first if it weren’t for the eagle on the reverse. I’ve… Read more »
Received today nice coin.
why did the price on the platinum coin not drop? Price of platinum is below $1000 now, when do prices get updated for precious metal products