Gold coins slow: A couple of things are noticeable. Probably because gold is 1900 or so/oz. the US mint is pussy footing on how many coins they actually make. It’s a pain in the buttz to buy from them. At the same time, in the past couple years there are a lot of plated copies around. Because they are not legal tender it’s not illegal to make them. But it makes it hard to trust what one might be looking at.
And the same thing with current graded silver coins. With silver at 24.00/oz or so, US Mint production is also really low. As a regular buyer of proof coins it’s been a pain to actually get them. In each case it’s hard to tell what to trust so People are right to be careful.
Eagles are legal tender.
Also, copies of real coinage, regardless of age, sold in the US must have the word “COPY” struck on them.