Penguin's Platinum $100 Collection (3)

关于此套币: This is a collection of Proof American Platinum Eagles that are $100 denominations, 1 ounce of .9995 platinum from 1997 through 2016, all years of issue, for the 1 ounce. The first year of issuance (1997) used the Mercanti/ Rogers design. Years 1998 through 2002 used the 'Vistas of Liberty' designs. Years 2003 through 2005 used the patriotic themes with the bald eagle figuring prominently in the design. Years 2006 through 2008 launched the 'Foundations of Democracy' design. Only for the 1/2 ounce in 2007 was a reverse proof issued for the platinum eagle's 10th anniversary. The fractional ounce coins stopped production as of 2008. For the 1 ounce coin, 2009 through 2014 used the 'Preamble of the U.S. Constitution' theme. All platinum coins have the Mercanti Liberty obverse, only proof coins have the annual changing reverse. I particularly like the 1999 eagle over alligator and the 2001 eagle over saguaro cacti. These are by far my two favorite designs of the series. Platinum is 15 times scarcer than gold in the ground. Total all size platinum eagle proof mintage's, all years, is 578,742, compared to all size gold eagle proof mintages, all years, of 4,927,664. Mintage's for this series and the American Platinum Eagles are some of the lowest mintages of modern coins available. On average platinum exists on the earth’s crust at about 5/1000th’s of a gram per metric ton of earth. Most platinum is mined in South Africa, Russia, and North America. South Africa produces over half (to 2/3rds) of the world supply. Russia is the next biggest producer. The North American mines are primarily palladium mines with platinum being a small percentage of the metal production. It takes about 10 tons of raw platinum ore to produce one pure ounce of platinum.