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First released on June 22, 2006, as a $50 gold one ounce collector's coin struck in .9999 fine gold, then subsequently released on July 22, 2008 as 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, and 1/10 ounce fractional coins, the Buffalo Gold coin series is based on James Earle Fraser's beloved Buffalo Nickel design. First minted in 1913, the nickel had two distinct varieties, known as Type I and Type II. The difference between the two types is the ground on which the buffalo stands; on Type I pieces, the buffalo stands on a mound, while Type II pieces show the buffalo on flat ground.

The obverse design features an American Indian, which is believed to be a composite of three different American Indian chiefs. Fraser identified two of the chiefs as Chief Two Moons (Cheyenne) and Chief Iron Tail (Lakota Sioux), while the identity of the third chief--believed to be either Chief John Big Tree (Onondaga tribe) or Chief John Two Guns, the son of White Calf--could not be recalled by Fraser.

The reverse features an American Buffalo (bison) standing on a raised mound. Popular opinion states that the bison was based on a model of Black Diamond, a beloved buffalo at the New York Zoological Gardens. On the Buffalo Gold coins the buffalo stands on raised ground, as he did on the Type I 1913 Buffalo Nickel. Additionally, as was seen on some early buffalo nickels, the Buffalo Gold coin's fields are textured, not smooth, making the coin even more visually stunning.

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