American Fighter Aces Bronze Medal

Earlier today, the Congressional Gold Medal was collectively awarded to the American Fighter Aces in recognition of their heroic service to the United States throughout the history of aviation warfare.

The award of the medal was authorized under Public Law 113-106. An American Fighter Ace is a fighter pilot who served honorably in a United States military service and destroyed five or more confirmed enemy aircraft in aerial combat during a war or conflict in which American armed forces participated. Aces have served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. More than 60,000 fighter pilots have flown since World War I, but fewer than 1,500 are called Fighter Aces.

The United States Mint had previously prepared six different obverse and eight different reverse design candidates for the medal, which were provided to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) for review and recommendation. Images of all design candidates can be found here. The recommendations of the CCAC and CFA can be found here.

The final designs selected by the Secretary of the Treasury appear below.

obverse

The obverse design features four pilots representing World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. An ace of spades appears at center with a winged globe below, symbolizing the global impact of the groups’ service. The inscriptions read “American Fighter Aces”, “Army”, “Navy”, “Air Force”, and “Marines”. The obverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.

reveres

The reverse features four aircraft flown by American Fighter Aces with five stars to represent the minimum number of aerial combat victories required for certification. The inscriptions include “Duty, Courage, Aggressiveness”, “2014”, and “Act of Congress”. The reverse was designed and sculpted by Don Everhart.

As in the past, the United States Mint has made bronze duplicate versions of the Congressional Gold Medal available for sale. A 3-inch version of the medal is available priced at $39.95 and a 1.5-inch version of the medal is available priced at $6.95.

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Comments

  1. Boz says

    This design would make a great silver coin. Umm how about fighter planes of the U.S. On the reverse of a dime series?

    I have asked for aircraft carriers of the Navy before too, but have not gotten any traction at the mint.

  2. KCSO says

    Very nice GF, I’m in for one. No Politcal Correctness with this one!

    Fly Navy!

  3. Dustyroads says

    Fox News had a short piece on the ceremony today, unfortunately they only had a brief shot of the medal.
    This one is another nice one. The P-51 Mustang will always be a favorite, but the F4-Phantom in the foreground looks fantastic, if that’s even what it is. The lettering done in military style around the rim is a nice touch too.

    The 3″Doolittle Raiders medal that I bought for my 91 year old Aunt was put to good use last weekend. She had a program where she was slated to speak about her time as a “Rosie the riveter”. During her speech she passed the medal around, needless to say everyone wanted to get a good look at it, it even had a picture taken of it for the newspaper. I wasn’t at the event, but I hear some of the people there wanted to pay for her meal and gave her a little cash, being that she didn’t have a pocket, she put it in her bra. 🙂

  4. KCSO says

    Dusty – your niece will likely be flying the last manned aircraft acquisition (combatant) ever, so the legacy that this coin captures is timely.., the days of the Wild West, here and above, are all but gone!

  5. KCSO says

    Just doing the quick math, if the mint holds to its sales commitment, the 2014 JFKs gold and silver set will be available thru spring of 2016.., so no rush yet if you’re just starting out!

  6. Dustyroads says

    Yeah, too many gold JFK’s. We will have to wait a good while for these to begin gaining momentum.

  7. Zaz says

    @Brad. Kudos to you, sir. You were right on the money regarding the early “sell out” of the FS coins. This should be an interesting scenario as no other FS coin to my knowledge has been through a rolling backorder window. They just have either sold out or taken off of sales arbitrarily one year after issuance or the end of the following calendar year as what happened to the ’12 FS.. Question remains now how long is the backorder window of opportunity, and if people are going to wait, the result might be ’15s are going to come in lower than the ’14s.

    @John, sorry about your MoD sets, rather than returning them to the mint you could have sold them to bloggers here for $62… Problem with playing a zero-sum game with a government entity is that you’re never going to win even if you’re 110% right. They simply take the position that they just don’t care. The Mint is not a business in the usual sense of the word. They have their own unique best practices simply because they can.

    Another great looking medal. The medals have been the finest area of artistic achievement since the New Frontier medal of 2011. Too bad they aren’t issued in patinated antiqued silver for a better keepsake/souvenir. Just the whole range of code talker medals has been awesome.

  8. VA Bob says

    KCSO – I preferred the obverse that had the pilot with the oxygen mask on. Just looked cooler IMO. This is OK though. I like the reverse, since the F-4 is my favorite fighter plane. I have a cockpit rear view mirror I took off a spent Phantom before dumping it into the Atlantic for jettison training back in the 90’s. I think I’ll pick one of these up as my Doolittle medal arrived yesterday.

  9. Tinto says

    @KCSO

    Yup, that JFK gold mintage is huge IMO ….. there had been talk here on MNB months ago that the Mint should stop at 70 k or less. … but nooo, the Mint got too greedy. Glad I resisted buying the gold and only went for the silver set. Most likely those that wanted to have a gold for their collection probably would have gotten one by now.

  10. KCSO says

    VA Bob – concur on both accounts; glad to see you still out here and in the game. I have to “touch & go” here as time permits though trying to keep up, FYI-we almost became coworkers, though now I support AS. Good luck mate!

  11. KCSO says

    Tinto – good call, take a guess at the top performing 2014 offerings…,
    …drum roll please~

    Top 2014 appreciating coins –

    Slabbed: PR70 DCAM $100 Platinum

    OGP: My Lady Sacabuck!

  12. GoldFishin says

    @VA BOB- So glad to hear from you. Hope you are doing just super duper and over the top fantastic!

  13. Tinto says

    @KCSO

    That’s nice! I almost didn’t get my hands on a 2014 $100 platinum from the Mint, I waited a little bit too long and it went into back order status soon after it opened …. I kept checking the Mint’s website and it went back on sale for a short period, I think some days or weeks later and I managed to get my hot hands on one …. whew …. now my preamble is complete and I’ll have them slabbed by PCGS .. hopefully I get some 70’s.

  14. Erik H says

    John, sorry to hear about your return over the COAs. I think a lot of bloggers including myself knew what the out come would have been. If there was a way to send private messages through this platform (to get your address) I would have offered to send you a few COAs from the sets I broke up for free. I’m sure others would too. You probably would have ended up with a few hundred COAs, ok maybe not that many. LOL

    Why does the mint still offer the option on the return form for “product replacement” if they don’t actually replace the product???

  15. Tinto says

    @Eric H

    “Why does the mint still offer the option on the return form for “product replacement” if they don’t actually replace the product???”

    And what would happen if there are no extra COAs lying around to insert into the returned sets? Will the Mint turn around and sell it w/o COA to the next customer in line?

  16. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    F-4 Phantom — terrible design, but turned out to be a real winner, especially with some mods and adding the cannon. Tactics is what also turned this plane into a real bad-ass 😮

    Hey, my all time favorite is the F-15 Eagle.

    I’m just saying.

  17. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    Just checked my MOD sets order at the US Mint:

    “Order History is currently offline. Please check again at a later time.”

  18. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    Don’t know how many of you know this — yesterday was a day with major disruptions for government computer systems everywhere. Cause? At this time I am not a liberty to discuss this and can neither confirm nor deny any additional information.

  19. jeff says

    Tomorrow will be cool or hot At this time I am not a liberty to discuss this and can neither confirm nor deny any additional information.

  20. Sith says

    @John – Sorry about your loss.

    @cool Dave – At least the phantom was a war horse, the current batch of fighters can’t get off the ground, or the brass expects the pilots to go without oxygen, because a little hypoxia can’t hurt them, they are professionals.

    Anyway here we have another medal with a better design than the current batch of coins….

  21. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    @jeff says on May 21, 2015 at 2:19 am
    “Tomorrow will be cool or hot At this time I am not a liberty to discuss this and can neither confirm nor deny any additional information.”

    What? Aren’t you that guy everyone was referring to as a “Troll” the other night?” I can confirm that your statement makes no sense whatsoever, since it goes without saying . . .

  22. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    CONFIRMED — Jeff is that rogue individual from the previous blog posting. Awe yes, one of the more intellectually challenged individuals posting to this blog, eh?

  23. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    @Sith says on May 21, 2015 at 3:46 am

    Yes, it sure was and was known for all those pony’s too!

  24. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    James Rickard (financial lawyer/consultant for the U.S. government) wrote in his book Currency Wars:

    “If the currency collapses, everything else goes with it… stocks, bonds, commodities, derivatives and other investments are all priced in a nation’s currency. If you destroy the currency, you destroy all markets and the nation.”

    “52% of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year” Really???

  25. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    I am reluctant at this point to put any gold/silver products in my safe deposit box — my instincts keep telling do NOT do it!

  26. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    Rickard’s is publically recommending people rush to buy gold/silver, real estate and hard assets.

  27. Ralph says

    File this under “I never thought I’d see the day”!

    One of my shipments for the 2014 First Spouse Medal Set’s was badly damaged in shipping (gee, what a surprise) due to the lousy packaging. The bottom was blown out leaving a gaping hole on one side. In addition to all the set’s having some damage due to them crashing into each other, 7 set’s slipped out the busted hole in the box.
    I called and was told to fill out some form and fax it in. I did.
    Just last week the credit came onto my credit card.

  28. Ralph says

    The Real “Cool” Dave: That troll jeff made a nasty comment about one of my post a while back. I repeat what I said at the time: he must be one unhappy person. All his post’s are negative and very ignorant!

  29. stephen m says

    “Tomorrow will be cool or hot to be followed by a period of darkness” to be followed by daylight. Jeff, sounds like you are playing the hippy dippy weather man. Be careful there, you might open up a lawsuit against yourself.

  30. jeff says

    I cannot confirm or deny but I think I’m right but maybe I’m not. Anyhow were all trolls you just can’t admit it.

  31. blackbeard says

    @tinto – now my preamble is complete.

    Congratulations what year did you start collecting platinum eagles ?

  32. Sith says

    @Cool Dave – That is not true, during the Weimar Republic , company stocks and bonds traded as currency, that is as long as the company had tanigable assets. IE stocks in eBay would be worthless, but stocks in utility companies was money. Now saying that after the collapse of the Third Riech , the only considered money was PMs, and cigarettes.

  33. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    @Sith

    Yeah — makes since. And booze — LOL!

    Mr. Rickard’s does posit some very interesting data.

  34. John says

    I talk to a sup. at the mint about my missing c.oa.I was told I should of send a CRN form,to replace the missing c.oa. from my march of dimes sets.Not return, I was told wrong from call center. Too late know.So all out there next time you are missing box,c.oa. fill out CRN form, you can get it on mint web page.

  35. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    @jeff

    So — you are admitting that you are a “Troll?” Very good — coming out of denial . . .

  36. MacHeath says

    Another great looking medal from the mint. I’ll take two; one for me and one from my dad. He was a navy guy in the backseat of a SB2C off the Bennington late in WWII, later joining the USAF as a fighter pilot. Of the four planes on the reverse, he wanted to fly in one (P-51) but they discontinued training in them a year or so before his class, flew in the F-86 in Korea, and ended up flying the F-4 in Germany and New Mexico before retiring. He’s almost 90, doing well, and will get a kick out of this.

    Had the opportunity to see the two surviving Doolittle Raiders turn their Congressional Gold Medal over to the Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton last month. One is pushing 100, the other a young guy in his mid 90’s. That makes two gold medals in the Dayton area; this one and the Wright Brothers’ medal, kept (appropriately) just a few miles away at Wright State University.

    KCSO, when you say “politically correct”, what exactly do you mean? Could you give me some examples of the Congressional Gold Medals that you think are “politically correct”?

  37. Bernie in FL says

    Just bought one for my 82 year Old Father would Flew in Korea and Vietnam and was shot down in 1966 covering ground troops. He also saved 3 ground troops of which he was awarded the Bronze Star. He never speaks of it. But I have his Bronze Star in a clear case in my Office Waiting Room were all my patients and myself see it every day…….

  38. tito says

    I’d rather read five posts from @jeff than one from @The Real “Cool” Dave. At least Jeff is sometimes on topic…

  39. JBK says

    Values on MOD sets seem to be holding. I got $520 (fixed price) on eBay yesterday for 5 sets. After postage, PP fees, and eBay fees I will net about $430. Still not too bad (I guess). Just hope the package arrives OK and the buyer does not play any games….

  40. Dustyroads says

    JBK

    MoD sets x 5 + shipping .. $314.70
    Your sell on Ebay……… $520.00
    Ebay + PayPal 13%……$ 67.60
    Shipping about..$ 6.00
    Your NET profit is…….$130.70

    Not bad for a little click.

  41. JBK says

    Dustyroads – that is pretty close to my calculations, except that postage and insurance was around $20. I went all out with insurance and sigantruie confirmation (I dread these large transactiopns.)

    Thanks to eBay promotions I got a $10 eBay credit for making the sale and was also able to participate in some kind of game thing and won another $5 credit. I find that when I sell only sporadically, eBay offers various incentives to list things.

    Not complaining, actually, just realizng that the cost of unloading this stuff makes it not quite as glamorous as it might first seem. Now I have to deal with the last three sets – I want to keep two but need to dispose of the 3rd, hopefully to end up covering the cost of all 8 sets. That would keep me solvent for the upcoming Prez C&C set fiasco onJune 30th…..

  42. Dustyroads says

    fm~ An F-2 Raptor will brighten the day of any ISIL member in greater Syria. The only problem is the price tag, so I doubt the US will be increasing its fleet any time soon. Our current fleet is aging though, so I can only assume we would only be buying some if a more formidable force were to arise, the jackals and scorpions can have ISIL.

  43. mark says

    Yes..ebay just sent me a message. ..sell something for $25.00 or more and receive a $25.00 ebay credit.

  44. mark says

    I think the mint just changed how we can tell if there are less than 100 available. Anyone else notice the change?

  45. fmtransmitter says

    @Dusty: Love the F series fighters, work horses…I am a helicopter guy myself. Seeing a muffled quiet floating thing armed to gills with hell fire missiles rise above the tree line from 20 miles away and hit you square between the eyes is quite the deterrent…

  46. fmtransmitter says

    mark says
    MAY 21, 2015 AT 3:16 PM

    I think the mint just changed how we can tell if there are less than 100 available. Anyone else notice the change?

    Doesn’t surprise me with all the chatter about it here..We should of kept that on the down low..BUT this IS the best forum for information regarding the good ol US Mint and their tactics..Glad to see flippers paying for their goodies…

  47. Billy the kid says

    One distant memory…

    USS America, maiden voyage.
    VAQ-130 squadron, aircraft carrier world cruise, Vietnam etc.

    Billy the Kid

  48. KEITHSTER says

    Looks like the mint is up to the old tricks again? As Bess & Mamie are up for backorder anyone for sloppy seconds?Must be making the second batch so they can linger for years cry cry babies. Hope they did mess up the last 99 if they use it as a nanny nanny boo-boo?Did pick up 6 more rolls of the turkeys from the bank the other day. Cone on mint leave them two B,s alone keep them hot and hard to find :>:>:>:>:>:> Good Lucks All:>:>:>:>:>:>:>

  49. Tinto says

    @blackbeard

    Thanks. I started this in 2009 with the start of the Preamble series, buying direct from the Mint. I had wanted at least one complete collection under my belt and this one running for 6 years was just do-able for me . So glad it is done.

  50. D Rittenhouse says

    The next opportunity to publicly whine in person to an actual Mint employee about how they’re screwing up everything will be at a Coin Forum on June 24 conducted at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center (milepost 384 on the Parkway) , held in conjunction with the Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter Launch. Details at:
    http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/Invitation-Blue%20Ridge.pdf

  51. Dustyroads says

    Speaking of the Blue Ridge Parkway quarter, the one in the link above has so much more detail than the proof version in the Mints silver proof set. I think the Mint could have polished the flowers next to the parkway for a bit more balanced look. Hopefully the big 5 oz. “P” will have the detail that the small space of the quarter must not have allowed.

  52. KCSO says

    MacHeath – the PC reference is a play on words for veteran posters out here as it’s been a topic of out here for ‘a few’ years. Unless you follow the blog closely, it’s best to ignore my posts as they often relate to topics in arrears.

    Cheers to your Father, I hold him in great esteem! Awesome career! I flew off the Independence & Kittyhawk out of Japan, would have LOVED to have flown the Phantom & Mustang, a real man’s crochrocket!

  53. KCSO says

    Cagcrisp – score one! The DNFTT came out of the woodwork of momma’s basement to jump on that!
    So, so very sad!

    LMAO.., perhaps it’s time to have a DNFTT run off?

    So, who is the best MNB DNFTT ?

  54. Alex in MA says

    mark says
    MAY 21, 2015 AT 3:16 PM

    I think the mint just changed how we can tell if there are less than 100 available. Anyone else notice the change?

    When they changed it, because this morning I bought 8 MOD sets and it was like before: showing that only 8 sets are available.

  55. VA Bob says

    Billy the kid – I’ve got seven years of memories now resting with the America on the bottom of the Atlantic. I miss that hunk of steel. As Boz mentioned I’d like to see a medal set on the carriers, but it would be a huge set, and as many folks can’t distinguish one from another, especially those in the same class, I’m not sure if there would be wide appeal. Perhaps a bullion version to attract stackers as well as ship enthusiasts. The mint would probably never do it, but a private mint might.

  56. KCSO says

    I’d like to see the next Quarter series designated to American Scientific Achievements.., that should lend itself to great:
    Designs,
    STEM appeal,
    & diversity of subject matter

    Could throw in the F-22 for good measure! 🙂

  57. GoldFishin says

    @JBK- for future reference….if you ever sell more than $500 worth of sales in a short period of time…..say you sold two sealed boxes for a total of $1000, you can open an ebay store for a month and your ebay fees go to 6% instead of 10%. Your ebay store fee for one month is $19.95 and the first sale would save you enough to pay for the store fee. The second sale would save you $20 in ebay fees. By opening a store you can reduce your ebay and paypal fees to 9% total. You can cancel your store subscription anytime, but you will pay for the prorated first month depending on what day of the month you open the store and one full month after that, at the full price of $19.95. So it is better to wait until just before the end of the month before opening your store if you can, so the first month’s prorated portion is minimal. It is very easy to open one and all you really have to do is come up with a store name. You don’t have to spend any time designing your store or anything like that. It can really save some money if you are selling a couple thousand dollars of merchandise in a short period of time. You can reopen the same store anytime you want to. FWIW

  58. D Rittenhouse says

    cagcrisp says:
    I’m a trollin’!

    GoldFishin says:
    I’m a trollin’, ditto!

    Understood.

  59. mark says

    @Alex…try putting 99 of the American Fighter Aces 3 inch bronze medals in you cart. It will allow them in your cart..but then try to check out. It will not take them..says back order. Then reduce it to 40 and they are available. Because last I looked there were about 65 left.

  60. GoldFishin says

    @MikeinPA- if you are selling that much you could sign up for the yearly subscription which comes to $15.95 a month. Save you some serious coin…good luck.

  61. MikeinPa says

    goldfishin, sold a lot of stuff due to unforseen circumstaces, have a lot left, that will have to go sometime, thanks for the info

  62. Sith says

    @GoldFishin – Thank you for the advice, I need to take Louis advice soon and start to cull some of less than desirable coins that is a significant savings. which reminds me…

    @Louis- I like the look of gilded coin, but I have never bought one as I think they are too expensive, and think of them more as a novelty than a collectable item, yet you think that would be a good innovative approach, just curious why? I’m I missing something? No need to reply here, if you can just do a follow up article. Going bi-metallic is another story I would love to see a bi-metallic ASE\AGE

  63. sharks2th says

    @Ikaika et. al. – mcm has the Kisatchie PCGS MS69DMPL on the bay for 199. There are 13 left as I write this. While I’d like to pay less, this is not too unreasonable a price this early on. The current PCGS Pop is now 373 in 69DMPL. With the higher mintage there is a decent possibility there could be a lot more in this grade unless there are some qc issues which show up later.

  64. Ikaika says

    @ sharks2th

    Thank you for the info on the Kisatchie ms69 DMPL. I was lucky enough to check the blog before hitting the sack. Purchased one. Now to the next release 🙂

  65. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    @tito says onMay 21, 2015 at 12:54 pm
    “I’d rather read five posts from @jeff than one from @The Real “Cool” Dave. At least Jeff is sometimes on topic…”

    Good for you — nice generalization and “on topic.” %-o

  66. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    Modern fighter ACES — Israeli AF and America (CIA) — however, not publicized and American’s were CIA ACEs’, in undeclared war(s) and above top secret operations unknown to general public.

  67. The Real "Cool" Dave says

    @stephen m says on May 21, 2015 at 6:17 am
    ‘ “Tomorrow will be cool or hot to be followed by a period of darkness” ‘ to be followed by daylight. Jeff, sounds like you are playing the hippy dippy weather man. Be careful there, you might open up a lawsuit against yourself.

    LOL!!

  68. tito says

    The Real “Cool” Dave says

    MAY 22, 2015 AT 12:51 AM

    Guess when you learn how to read you can do that . . .

    Okay just let me know when you learn how to write…

  69. tito says

    The Real “Cool” Dave says

    MAY 22, 2015 AT 12:49 AM

    @tito says onMay 21, 2015 at 12:54 pm
    “I’d rather read five posts from @jeff than one from @The Real “Cool” Dave. At least Jeff is sometimes on topic…”

    Good for you — nice generalization and “on topic.” %-o

    Give yourself more credit. You’re on topic more like 3% of the time.

  70. sharks2th says

    It took me 40 minutes and 3 different browsers to buy a couple more. I’m not sure if the problem is with the Mint site or the mobile browsers or both.

  71. sharks2th says

    Maybe they are selling the last 500 sets in groups of 100 at random times. The ship date was listed as July 17.

  72. cagcrisp says

    There is now some more MOD’s available. I just cancelled all that I had ordered. I was playing the wait and see game. I waited and didn’t like what I saw…

    I Originally ordered in the first few minutes and Cancelled that order when I didn’t see what I wanted to see Happen in a timely manner…

    Later when it was close to going OOS I put in another order Hoping that I would have a couple of months. Just decided these MOD’s were not what I wanted…

  73. IPS_STUFF says

    @Cagcrisp,

    Can you tell us more? When you say more available, how many do you mean. My question is, how many did you cancel. The household limit was originally 5, that was removed around 5/12th or so.

    With the backorder still showing for close to 1 hour, now that I know of, it would seem they had more or you canceled a very LARGE order.

  74. cagcrisp says

    Core CPI jumped more than expected and Gold went the other direction. Surprised. More inflation should be good for Gold. Higher interest rates should be bad for Gold. Right Now, interest rates are trumping inflation…

  75. sharks2th says

    The MoD window was open from about 7:35 to a little after 9:00 this morning. It was closed before 9:15.

  76. Louis says

    @GF- I like some gilded coins, but I personally would rather see a UHR silver eagle for the 30th anniv. as would many other collectors. I suggested the gilded option as an example of the outer limits of what buyers might go for, but for sure many would not like it.

  77. Dustyroads says

    Louis~ I value your thoughts and enjoy reading your articles, however, I don’t particularly want my e-mail exposed to the general public. Is there anyway to hide that when one wants to post a comment over at CW?

  78. Louis says

    Hi Dusty- I was not aware of that. I would call customer service and check with them. When I see comments others leave it does not have their address, just a name, which can be anything. I believe you just need to be signed in and then post the comment and all it would say is “dustyroads.”

  79. says

    I am a novice collector for the past 5 years – I have been reading the Mint News Blog & watching cable ‘coin’ TV long enough to be dangerous.

    My question:
    Do coins deteriorate in the current year plastic holders from PCGS (slabs) or the US Mint plastic. Specific to the question: PCGS 5oz. ATBs & US Mint holder containing the ‘2015 Silver Proof coin assortment’?

    Will PCGS slabbed gold coins deteriorate?

    If so what should be done?

    Thanks for a response.

  80. GoldFishin says

    @Silky- I will summarize my experience with the issues you mentioned.
    First, I have had zero problems with NGC holders, gold or silver. I own both NGC and PCGS gold coins. It seems to me that there are problems with PCGS holders and gold coins. But, I personally have never had a problem with 24K gold coins, only 90% gold coins. They tend to darken or develop an bronze or orange-ish patina, that frequently is not uniform in appearance. Having said that, I have never had a PCGS gold coin turn just down right ugly, maybe I have been lucky. But, there is a mountain of evidence that suggests many gold slabbed PCGS coins have some serious issues. It could be some folks may not be properly storing their coins and they may also live in high humidity areas or mountainous areas with the barometric pressure and humidity levels experience wide swings on an ongoing basis.
    I have not heard of any significant problems with US Mint coins that are stored in the direct-fit type capsules like any of the Commemorative or ATB 5 oz coins are in. However, the US Mint Proof set capsules in my opinion are of lesser quality and have experienced some issues with hazing and spotting….maybe because of the same issues I mentioned above. Personally, I think it is critical that you store any coin, slabbed or not, in low humidity climate controlled conditions. It is also beneficial to use dessicant pouches in whatever storage container you utilize. I keep my 5 oz coins in airtight ammo cans with good seals. I normally buy them new or make sure the seal is nice and plump. Hope this helps some…I would be happy to answer any further questions you may have if I can. Good Luck>>>>

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