2006 American $50 Buffalo NGC PR70 W/Michael Castle Signature

2006 American $50 Buffalo NGC PR70 W/Michael Castle Signature First year of issue coins

First ever coins minted in 24-karat gold by the United States Mint Very low certified population Production of 24-karat American Buffalo Gold Coins was authorized by Public Law 109-145, dated December 22, 2005, sponsored by Honorable Michael Castle, the Coinage Congressman. The American Buffalo Gold Coin's obverse and reverse designs feature images by noted American sculptor James Earle Fraser, once a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, for America's five-cent coin. The Native American depiction on the coin's obverse is believed to be based on three different American Indians. Two of the American Indians who modeled for Fraser as he sculpted the coin were named by the designer before his death. They were Chief Iron Tail of the Lakota Sioux and Chief Two Moons of the Cheyenne. Although many have claimed to have had a sitting with Fraser for this design, he could not recall the name of the third person, and satisfactory documentation has not yet been found to identify that individual. It is widely believed that the bison on the coin's reverse was modeled after Black Diamond, a popular attraction at the New York Zoological Gardens.

Specifications

• Date: 2006
• Metal: Gold
• Denomination: $50
• Weight: 1 oz.
• Purity: .9999
• Diameter: 32.7 mm
• Condition: PR70