5 Dollars 'American Gold Eagle' Bullion Coinage

The American Gold Eagle series was authorized by the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, which mandated that the gold content be sourced exclusively from newly mined domestic sources — a requirement that still stands. The 2021 issue marked a significant design revision, the first change to the reverse since the series launched in 1986, prompted in part by anti-counterfeiting concerns over the old design's susceptibility to sophisticated fakes entering the market.

The alloy composition, an 22-karat standard borrowed from the historic pre-1933 coinage, gives these coins their characteristic durability in circulation handling — a deliberate nod to the Saint-Gaudens double eagles that informed the original series design.