2018 American Gold Buffalo
Every version of the 2018 Gold Buffalo with mintages, the gold it contains, which versions carry a premium and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2018
- 1 oz bullion mintage
- 121,500
- 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 2018 Gold Buffalo worth?
The 2018 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 2018-W 1 oz proof (15,756) 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 2018 Gold Buffalo version
| Version | Mint mark | Size | Mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullion | None | 1 oz ($50) | 121,500 | Metal value |
| Proof | "W" | 1 oz ($50) | 15,756 | Small premium |
Two 2018 Gold Buffalos exist, both one ounce with a $50 face value. Bullion coins have no mint mark, a bright even finish and 121,500 sold. The proof carries a W mint mark, mirror fields and frosted design, with 15,756 struck. Proofs were sold in a capsule with a presentation box and certificate. Bullion pieces usually come in tubes or loose. The W mint mark is the quickest way to tell which you have. Bullion coins were never sold with a certificate, so a certificate in the box is a strong sign you have a proof.
Quick answers
- How much gold is in a 2018 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 2018 Gold Buffalos were made?
- 121,500 one ounce bullion coins plus 15,756 collector versions (proof, burnished and special finishes).
- Is the 2018 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 2018
Bullion demand recovered a little in 2018, with 121,500 Gold Buffalos sold. That's more than 2017 but still well below the 200,000 or so of the early 2010s. Nothing about the coin's design or specifications changed. Gold Buffalos still sold steadily, but the busy days of the early 2010s were over. Buyers still had plenty of other gold coins to choose from.
The proof held almost level at 15,756 coins, just 54 fewer than 2017. Those two years form a matching pair for proof collectors. The Gold Buffalo was now a mature program with a steady, smaller collector base and the mintages reflect that. Without design changes or special finishes, the year's coins sold mainly to people keeping up a set or buying pure gold for its metal. For bullion, 2018 is an ordinary date. For proofs, it sits comfortably in the middle of the series for scarcity. Collectors often treat 2017 and 2018 as a matching pair of quiet dates, since their proof mintages are only 54 coins apart.
2018 Gold Buffalo by the numbers
The Mint sold 121,500 one ounce bullion Gold Buffalos dated 2018. That ranks 4th lowest of the 19 bullion dates from 2006 to 2024.
Against the dates around it, 2018 bullion sales were 1.2 times the 2017 figure and 2 times the 2019 figure.
Collector versions dated 2018 add up to 15,756 coins across 1 version. The scarcest is the 2018-W 1 oz proof at 15,756.
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 2018 bullion coin trades for a small premium over metal value. The proof carries a collector premium similar to 2017. Collectors look for spot-free mirror fields and the original box and certificate. Pure gold shows wear and contact marks easily, so coins that have been kept loose or handled often draw less interest than those left in their capsules. Proofs from 2017 and 2018 are often bought together because their mintages are so close. Keep the certificate and box together with the coin.
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 2018 Gold Buffalo proofs were made?
The Mint struck 15,756 proofs with the W mint mark, almost the same as the 15,810 struck in 2017. Bullion sales reached 121,500 coins with no mint mark. Both versions were one ounce coins.
How do you tell a 2018 Gold Buffalo proof from bullion?
The proof has a W mint mark, deep mirror fields and a frosted design and came in a box with a certificate. Bullion has no mint mark and an even finish. The packaging is another clue.
Mintages: American Gold Buffalo (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint figures. How we build these pages.