A term that was introduced recently, in 2006, "burnished" refers to where and how the American Gold Eagle was minted. All Burnished American Gold Eagles sport a "W" mint-mark, signifying its place of origin: the West Point Mint. Celebrating the successful 20th anniversary of the American Gold Eagle series, the US Mint released a new coin to join the record-breaking program. A burnished coin was produced for each size variety (1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, and 1/10 oz), but switched to only minting 1 oz coins in 2009, due to a stall in proof and burnished Gold Eagle production.
