We have been minting the Official State of Alaska Medallions since 1992. Each year we have a statewide art contest to decide the design for the next years medallion. The medallions are minted in 6 different sizes in silver, silver with gold highlights, or pure gold.
Each year we mint medallions out bronze, silver, and pure gold. We have many designs to choose from, ranging from marine life, wildlife, transportation, and other designs of life in the north. These coins make great gifts and are always well received. We even do custom work, if you have ever wanted to design your own coin, just ask!
We are now happy to introduce our new line of wrist watches. They feature custom made cases of solid stainless steel, a scratch resistant sapphire crystal, water resistant to 100 meters, and Swiss quartz movement. The watch cases are available in 3 different colors, stainless steel, goldtone, and black. The gold and black color is applied to the stainless case by a process called PVD, it is an environmentaly friendly process and many times stronger than electroplating. The large size, 44mm (almost 1 3/4 inch) is good for both a man or a woman. These watches hold a specialy struck version of our 1oz medallion as the face. Our watches are proudly assembled in Hawaii from American made and imported components and have a 1 year mechaincal guarantee. Most of our coin designs can be used as the face of these watches, call for more information 1-800-770-6468. Call also for watch band options.
Gold Bearing Quartz is a natural gemstone that is usually mined deep underground. Finding snowy white quartz with visible veins of pure gold is extremely difficult. Most of the time, gold mined in quartz is found in microscopic amounts, not at all visible. This very rare stone is then cut into slabs, revealing the gold vein, then cut, shaped, polished and mounted into a 14k gold mounting. Because of the veining of the gold, each piece of jewelry is one of a kind! We make this stone into wonderful pieces for both men and women, rings, bracelets, earrings, cuff links, and anything else you might imagine. We can even design a custom piece for you.
Gold miners come in to our shop throughout the year with the gold nuggets that they mined that season. These are natural pieces of "placer gold" that are mined from the rivers and streams around Alaska and northern Canada, areas that make up the Klondike region. These nuggets range in fineness from about 75% to 95% pure gold. Some of the other minerals mixed in a natural nugget are silver and platinum. Natural nuggets are very rare, most of the gold mined in the world is from "hard rock" mining, where rock is crushed and small particles of gold are separated out. When we make pendants and other jewelry, the nuggets are left in their natural state. Natural gold nuggets make very interesting, one of a kind jewelry. They will definitely be conversation starters. Because the nuggets are natural, the nugget shapes will vary.
Natural gold has other metals mixed with it, including silver and platinum. Most of our nuggets are between 70% to 95% pure gold. You can request nuggets from different areas of the state and will notice that the color and texture varies from mine to mine. Our certified nuggets start at $30.00 and go up to several thousand dollars depending on the nugget size and the market price of gold. Our nuggets are weighd in pennyweight (DWT) 1 pennyweight equals 1.55 grams, 20 pennyweights equal 1 troy ounce. We negotiate with the miners to get the best price possible, but because of their rarity, natural nuggets sell for more than the going price of gold, in fact, the larger the nugget, the more per ounce it can cost. We are able to sell large quantities of gold dust and tiny nuggets at about 10% over the market price of gold, call for availability. For larger nuggets please call us at 1-800-770-6468
At the Alaska Mint you will find a large selection of vintage estate jewelry pieces. With some of this jewelry dating back to the 1940's you will surely find items that are no longer frequently sold in retail stores. All of our estate collection is examined by a GIA certified Gemologist and must pass specific standards before it can be sold. We have a range of different natural gemstones, precious metals including gold, platinum, silver, and jewelry in styles from many different eras.
Hundreds of years ago, the wealthy would wear large linked chains made out of silver and gold, called money chains. These chains could have their links clipped so that the owner could pay for products or services. Also, by having their money in metal form, the owners could avoid paying taxes on their wealth, saving them money. We have replicated these money chains and have them in sterling silver and gold ranging from 14K to 22K. We also have a very nice selection of traditional neck chains in Silver, gold, and platinum.
We have a very nice selection of handmade collector knives, from local knife makers as well as famous U.S. knife builders like William Henry. We also carry a great selection of the ancient style Alaskan Ulu knifes, these range from $19.99 knives made locally at the Ulu Factory to over $300.00 for a handmade Ulu knife using fossilized ivory or bone as the handle material.
We have a large selection of jade carvings and jewelry from British Columbia, Canada, home to some of the top quality jade in the world. From Alaskan animals to elegant cufflinks, if you are looking for a new piece of jade to add to your collection the Alaska Mint is the place to go.