1998 American Gold Eagle
Every version of the 1998 Gold Eagle with mintages, the gold it contains, which versions carry a premium and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1998
- 1 oz bullion mintage
- 1,468,530
- Versions
- 8
- Metal
- 22 karat gold (91.67%)
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 1998 Gold Eagle worth?
The 1998 bullion Gold Eagle 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 1998 1/10 oz proof (39,395) 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 1998 Gold Eagle version
| Version | Mint mark | Size | Mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullion | None | 1 oz ($50) | 1,468,530 | Metal value |
| Bullion | None | 1/2 oz ($25) | 169,029 | Metal value |
| Bullion | None | 1/4 oz ($10) | 309,829 | Metal value |
| Bullion | None | 1/10 oz ($5) | 1,344,520 | Metal value |
| Proof | See below | 1 oz ($50) | 25,886 | Small premium |
| Proof | See below | 1/2 oz ($25) | 25,374 | Small premium |
| Proof | See below | 1/4 oz ($10) | 29,503 | Small premium |
| Proof | See below | 1/10 oz ($5) | 39,395 | Small premium |
1998 has eight versions. Bullion coins in four sizes carry no mint mark; most were bought as metal and changed hands loose or in plastic tubes. Proofs in four sizes have mirror fields with frosted design, a small mint mark on the obverse and were sold in capsules with presentation boxes. With so many bullion coins around, a 1998 coin is most likely bullion unless it has that mirror finish or came in a Mint box. A Mint box and certificate travel with proofs, but they're often lost over the years, so judge the coin, not the paperwork.
Quick answers
- How much gold is in a 1998 Gold Eagle?
- Each coin contains its stated weight of pure gold: 1/10 troy ounce in the $5 coin, 1/4 troy ounce in the $10 coin, 1/2 troy ounce in the $25 coin and one troy ounce in the $50 coin. The alloy is 91.67% gold, 3% silver, 5.33% copper.
- How many 1998 Gold Eagles were made?
- 1,468,530 one ounce bullion coins plus 120,158 collector versions (proof, burnished and special finishes).
- Is the 1998 Gold Eagle 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 Eagle legal tender?
- Yes. Each size carries a face value ($5, $10, $25 and $50), but nobody spends them: the gold is worth far more than the face value.
The Gold Eagle in 1998
1998 was a giant bullion year. The one ounce coin sold 1,468,530, its highest total yet, beating even the 1986 launch year. The tenth ounce reached 1,344,520, also a record for the size at the time, while the quarter ounce sold 309,829 and the half ounce 169,029. In total, nearly 1.8 million ounces of gold went out as bullion Gold Eagles. Bullion production, at 3,291,908 coins across the four sizes, was the second highest of the program to that point, behind only 1986.
Proof sales stayed low. The Mint sold 39,395 tenth ounce, 29,503 quarter ounce, 25,374 half ounce and 25,886 one ounce proofs. The half and one ounce proofs both set new lows. For the one ounce size, bullion coins outnumbered proofs by more than fifty to one, so 1998 proofs are far scarcer than the coins struck alongside them. If you inherited a 1998 Gold Eagle, the odds strongly favor bullion. Even so, it's worth a look at the surface before you assume anything.
1998 Gold Eagle by the numbers
The Mint sold 1,468,530 one ounce bullion Gold Eagles dated 1998. That ranks 37th lowest of the 39 bullion dates from 1986 to 2024.
Against the dates around it, 1998 bullion sales were 2.2 times the 1997 figure and about the same as 1999.
Collector versions dated 1998 add up to 120,158 coins across 4 versions. The scarcest is the 1998 1/2 oz proof at 25,374; the most plentiful is the 1998 1/10 oz proof at 39,395.
Fractional bullion that year: 1,344,520 1/10 oz coins, 309,829 1/4 oz coins and 169,029 1/2 oz coins. None of the fractional sizes is scarce.
What to check on yours
- Weigh and measure it. A genuine one ounce Gold Eagle weighs 33.931 g and measures 32.7 mm; the fractional sizes are 3.393 g (1/10 oz), 8.483 g (1/4 oz) and 16.965 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 half ounce proof at 25,374 is the scarcest 1998 issue, with the one ounce proof at 25,886 just behind. Both carry a small premium over metal value. Coins graded near perfect earn more. The bullion coins, made by the hundreds of thousands or more, trade on their gold content in almost every case. Certified top grade bullion coins are the exception, though the extra is modest. For proofs, deep mirror fields free of spots and hairlines are what graders reward. A worn or wiped proof sells for much less.
Arabic dates and the bullion boom (1992 to 2005)
From 1992 the date switched to ordinary numerals and the program settled into a routine of four bullion sizes and four proofs every year. Bullion demand was modest in the early and middle 1990s. The one ounce coin sold just 189,148 pieces in 1996. The quarter and half ounce sizes stayed below 100,000 every year from 1992 to 1996.
Then came the late 1990s surge. One ounce bullion sales jumped to 664,508 in 1997, 1,468,530 in 1998 and 1,505,026 in 1999, while the tenth ounce hit 2,750,338 in 1999, by far its biggest year. Worries about computer failures at the turn of the millennium are often given as one reason people stocked up on gold. In 1999 a small number of tenth and quarter ounce bullion coins were struck with unfinished proof dies and show a W mint mark, a recognized variety worth checking for.
Demand dropped almost as quickly as it had risen. The 2001 one ounce bullion coin sold only 143,605, one of the lowest one ounce totals of any year. Proof mintages drifted down across the era too, from about 41,000 to 65,000 per size in 1992 to between 23,000 and 38,000 in 2001, before recovering a little by 2005. The half ounce is usually the scarcest proof of the year in this period. Most of these proofs are plentiful enough to carry only a small premium over metal value when they're complete with box and certificate.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Program | American Gold Eagle |
|---|---|
| Issuer | United States Mint |
| Metal | 22 karat gold (91.67%) |
| Alloy | 91.67% gold, 3% silver, 5.33% copper |
| Sizes | 1/10 oz ($5, 3.393 g, 16.5 mm); 1/4 oz ($10, 8.483 g, 22 mm); 1/2 oz ($25, 16.965 g, 27 mm); 1 oz ($50, 33.931 g, 32.7 mm) |
| Edge | Reeded |
| One ounce coin | 33.931 g, 32.7 mm |
Frequently asked questions
How many 1998 Gold Eagles were made?
Bullion production reached 3,291,908 coins across four sizes, plus 120,158 proofs struck that year. The one ounce bullion coin alone accounted for 1,468,530 pieces, a record for the program at the time.
Is the 1998 half ounce proof Gold Eagle scarce?
Fairly. Only 25,374 were struck, a new low for half ounce proofs at the time. It brings a small premium over metal value when it still has its box and certificate. Most of those coins trade on their gold.
Mintages: American Gold Eagle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint figures. How we build these pages.