2020 American Gold Buffalo

Every 2020 Gold Buffalo version

Two 2020 Gold Buffalos exist, both one ounce with a $50 face value. Bullion has no mint mark and a bright, uniform finish, with 242,000 sold. The proof carries a W mint mark and mirror fields with frosted relief, with 11,887 struck. Buyers of the proof received it in a capsule, boxed with a certificate. Bullion was sold through authorized purchasers in tubes. A W and mirror surfaces mean a proof. Bullion coins never carry a W, so a coin without one is always bullion whatever its finish looks like. Read the date carefully too.

Quick answers

How much gold is in a 2020 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 2020 Gold Buffalos were made?

242,000 one ounce bullion coins plus 11,887 collector versions (proof, burnished and special finishes).

Is the 2020 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.

2020 Gold Buffalo by the numbers

The Mint sold 242,000 one ounce bullion Gold Buffalos dated 2020. That ranks 14th lowest of the 19 bullion dates from 2006 to 2024.

Against the dates around it, 2020 bullion sales were 3.9 times the 2019 figure and 1.4 times fewer than 2021.

Collector versions dated 2020 add up to 11,887 coins across 1 version. The scarcest is the 2020-W 1 oz proof at 11,887.

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 2020 bullion coin trades for a small premium over metal value, with plenty available. The proof, at 11,887, carries a stronger collector premium than most recent years and was the lowest one ounce proof mintage until 2024. Original packaging and clean mirror fields matter. Graded proofs at the top of the scale draw the most interest from collectors. A 2020 proof is one of the better modern dates to keep, especially paired with a 2024. Keep it boxed with the certificate.

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

Frequently asked questions