Have you ever thought about which 20th century U.S. coins have the best designs? One answer to this question is that the best designs have been used on several of the American bullion coins. For example, $1 American Silver Eagles bear Adolph Weinman’s Walking Liberty half dollar design on their obverses, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ double eagle obverse graces the American Eagle gold bullion pieces. American Eagle palladium coins feature Weinman’s Winged Liberty (Mercury) obverse found on dimes issued from 1916-1945.
Note that the coins I’ve listed display only the obverse of the 20th century coins copied by the Mint’s bullion program. There is one bullion coin, however, that has both the obverse and reverse of the earlier coin: the American Buffalo 24-karat gold piece.
The design is by James Earle Fraser, whose initial “F” appears below the date. One major complaint about the Buffalo nickel’s design was that the date wore away quickly, and if you happen to encounter one in circulation today, it almost certainly won’t have even a hint of the date. This was
