1916 Indian Head Half Eagle

About This Coin

The 1916 Indian Head Half Eagle is a United States Gold Half Eagle from the Indian Head Half Eagles 1908-1929 series — a late issue, 9th of 10 years in the series. In 1916, coins were struck at the San Francisco Mint with a combined mintage of 240,000. This represents the lowest annual mintage in the entire series, below the series median of 1.2 million. The obverse features a Native American chief wearing a feathered headdress, designed in incuse (sunken) relief — a revolutionary departure from traditional raised relief coinage and the reverse displays a standing eagle on a bundle of arrows with an olive branch, in incuse (sunken) relief. The 1916-S is the last half eagle struck before a 13-year gap in production (1917-1928). Struck in 90% gold, 10% copper, weighing 8.36 grams, 21.6 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Across its variants, estimated values range from $1.4K to $6.8K depending on mint mark, grade, and strike type. A notable auction result reached $132K in MS66+ grade at Heritage Auctions. Designed by Bela Lyon Pratt.