$100 Platinum Eagles (1997–)

$100 platinum American Eagles have been struck since 1997 and are among the world?s most popular one-ounce platinum coins. $100 platinum eagles are also presently the only platinum bullion coins regularly issued by the United States Mint, making the series a primary target for precious metals investors as well as coin collectors who want to add some high-value coins to their collections by means of something besides gold coins.

The $100 platinum eagles stand out from the bullion crowd not only because of their platinum content, which is relatively unusual in a numismatic world where gold and silver rule the bullion roost, but also because of the incredible designs featured on these valuable coins. The obverse features a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty by John Mercanti, while the reverse of the uncirculated $100 platinum eagle showcases an eagle in flight as captured by Thomas D. Rogers. Proof $100 platinum eagles issued since 1998 have featured a new reverse design each year.

While proofs continue to be made to the present, the last regular-strike examples were issued in 2014. Most uncirculated pieces are relatively common, though the three burnished issues of the series are scarce. These include the 2006-W, 2007-W, and 2008-W, each with a mintage of fewer than 4,000 pieces. Also tough is the 2014 uncirculated issue, which was made six years after the previous regular-strike issue and is worth much more than spot metal values.