2016 American Gold Buffalo
Every version of the 2016 Gold Buffalo with mintages, the gold it contains, which versions carry a premium and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2016
- 1 oz bullion mintage
- 219,500
- Versions
- 2
- Metal
- .9999 fine (24 karat) gold
Original illustration of the coin's size and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because metal and coin prices change daily.
What is a 2016 Gold Buffalo worth?
The 2016 bullion Gold Buffalo is worth its gold content: weight times the day's spot price, plus a modest dealer premium when you buy and less when you sell. Its scarcer versions are different: the 2016-W 1 oz proof (21,878) rates small premium.
Metal value = troy ounces of gold × the day's spot price. For collector versions, check recent sold results for the same version and grade.
Every 2016 Gold Buffalo version
| Version | Mint mark | Size | Mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullion | None | 1 oz ($50) | 219,500 | Metal value |
| Proof | "W" | 1 oz ($50) | 21,878 | Small premium |
Two 2016 Gold Buffalos exist, both one ounce with a $50 face value. Bullion has no mint mark and a bright, even finish, with 219,500 sold through authorized purchasers. The proof has a W mint mark and mirror fields behind frosted design, with 21,878 struck. Proofs came in a capsule within a presentation box and certificate. Bullion coins usually turn up loose or in tubes. The W and the mirror finish tell them apart. Check the size marked on the reverse: every 2016 coin should read 1 OZ. Proofs always came with a certificate.
Quick answers
- How much gold is in a 2016 Gold Buffalo?
- Each coin contains its stated weight of pure gold: one troy ounce in the $50 coin. The alloy is 99.99% gold.
- How many 2016 Gold Buffalos were made?
- 219,500 one ounce bullion coins plus 21,878 collector versions (proof, burnished and special finishes).
- Is the 2016 Gold Buffalo worth more than its gold?
- The bullion coin trades close to its metal value plus a dealer premium. Collector versions in their original packaging bring a small premium.
- Is the Gold Buffalo legal tender?
- Yes. Each size carries a face value ($50), but nobody spends them: the gold is worth far more than the face value.
The Gold Buffalo in 2016
Bullion sales stayed steady in 2016 at 219,500 coins, almost identical to 2015. After this year bullion demand would fall away for several years, so 2016 closes out a long run of strong sales that began in 2009. Gold Buffalos marked their tenth year without any change to the coin.
The proof rose a little to 21,878 coins, the highest regular proof figure since 2011. It's a small bump, but it breaks the steady downward trend of the years before. The Gold Buffalo design was now ten years old and completely unchanged, which suited bullion buyers who wanted a consistent product. Collectors had less reason to buy each new date, since every proof looked the same apart from the year. The 2016 coins are common in bullion form and easy to find as proofs. Bullion buyers were happy with the familiar coin, while collectors increasingly bought only the dates that interested them most, which explains the uneven proof figures of the following years.
2016 Gold Buffalo by the numbers
The Mint sold 219,500 one ounce bullion Gold Buffalos dated 2016. That ranks 12th lowest of the 19 bullion dates from 2006 to 2024.
Against the dates around it, 2016 bullion sales were about the same as 2015 and 2.2 times the 2017 figure.
Collector versions dated 2016 add up to 21,878 coins across 1 version. The scarcest is the 2016-W 1 oz proof at 21,878.
What to check on yours
- Weigh and measure it. A genuine one ounce Gold Buffalo weighs 31.108 g and measures 32.7 mm; the fractional sizes are 3.11 g (1/10 oz), 7.776 g (1/4 oz) and 15.552 g (1/2 oz). Fakes are usually the wrong weight or the wrong thickness.
- Try a magnet. Gold is not magnetic, so a coin that sticks is not genuine. A coin that does not stick still needs the other checks.
- Look for the mint mark. Bullion strikes have none; proofs and burnished coins carry a small letter. A mirror field with frosted design means a proof, a soft satin look means burnished.
- Handle it by the edge and never clean it. Fingerprints, wiping and polishing leave marks that cost collector versions much of their premium.
- Keep the original capsule, box and certificate with collector versions. Coins that come with them are easier to sell and more likely to bring their full premium.
The 2016 bullion coin trades for a small premium over metal value. The proof carries a collector premium, slightly less than neighboring years because of its higher mintage. Graded proofs at the top of the scale draw extra interest. Original packaging, clean fields and no spots are what collectors look for. Bullion buyers mostly want coins without scratches or dings. Coins stored loose in pouches or envelopes tend to pick up marks quickly, so a capsule is always the safer choice.
Quieter years and the 2020 rebound (2016 to 2020)
After a steady 219,500 bullion coins in 2016, demand for Gold Buffalos fell away. The Mint sold 99,500 in 2017 and 121,500 in 2018, then just 61,500 in 2019, the lowest bullion figure of the program. A 2019 bullion coin is still a gold coin that trades near metal value, but it's the scarcest bullion date in the series. Bullion buyers in these years had plenty of other options and the Buffalo felt the slowdown as much as any coin.
Proof mintages kept drifting lower through these years. From 21,878 in 2016 they fell to 15,810 in 2017, 15,756 in 2018 and 14,844 in 2019. The coins themselves didn't change: same design, same W mint mark, same one ounce size. What changed was the size of the collector base buying them each year. Collectors who buy a proof every year still found them easily, but fewer new buyers joined in, so each date became a slightly smaller issue than the one before.
Then 2020 turned things around. Demand for precious metals surged that year and bullion sales jumped to 242,000 coins, almost four times the 2019 total. The proof went the other way, falling to 11,887, the lowest one ounce proof figure up to that point. So 2020 is a split year: a common bullion coin paired with one of the scarcer proofs in the program. Anyone sorting a group of coins from these years should look for the W first, since the 2019 bullion coin and the 2020 proof are the two that stand apart.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Program | American Gold Buffalo |
|---|---|
| Issuer | United States Mint |
| Metal | .9999 fine (24 karat) gold |
| Alloy | 99.99% gold |
| Sizes | 1/10 oz ($5, 3.11 g, 16.5 mm); 1/4 oz ($10, 7.776 g, 22 mm); 1/2 oz ($25, 15.552 g, 27 mm); 1 oz ($50, 31.108 g, 32.7 mm) |
| Edge | Reeded |
| One ounce coin | 31.108 g, 32.7 mm |
Frequently asked questions
How many 2016 Gold Buffalos were sold?
The Mint sold 219,500 bullion coins with no mint mark and struck 21,878 proofs with the W mint mark. The proof figure was the highest for a regular proof since 2011. Bullion sales held steady.
Did the Gold Buffalo design change in 2016?
No. The design has stayed the same since 2006, with Fraser's Native American portrait on the obverse and the bison on a mound on the reverse. Only the date changes from year to year.
Mintages: American Gold Buffalo (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint figures. How we build these pages.