$50 Platinum Eagles (1997–2008)

$50 platinum American Eagle coins were struck from 1997 until 2008 and are popular coins with both collectors and precious metals investors. The design features the Statue of Liberty on the obverse, as created by John Mercanti. On the reverse was originally a design of a soaring American eagle by Thomas D. Rogers, but in 1998 the United States Mint began changing the proof reverses with a new design each year. Rogers? original design remained on all uncirculated $50 platinum eagles until the end of the series in 2008.

The $50 platinum American Eagle contains a half ounce of pure platinum, making the series particularly attractive to bullion investors. Meanwhile, collectors building sets of these scarce platinum coins, which include several burnished-finish issues struck at the West Point Mint in 2006, 2007, and 2008 that have tiny mintages of fewer than 4,000 pieces each and worth more than spot values.