 With the American Buffalo coin, the U.S. government hopes to increase the amount of U.S. gold sales and cash in on the 24-karat sales, which makes up about 60% of the world gold market.On September 26, 2008, the U.S. Mint announced that, temporarily, it would halt sales of the American Buffalo coins because it could not keep up with soaring demand as investors sought the safety of gold amid the subprime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s, which had also affected the price of gold.Mintage for the bullion version of the American Buffalo is as follows (all 1 ounce coins)