Indian Head Half Eagles 1908-1929

About This Series

Representing one of the most radical design innovations in American coinage history, Bela Lyon Pratt's Indian Head Half Eagle employed an incuse or sunken relief technique where design elements sit recessed below the coin's flat field surface. President Theodore Roosevelt's campaign to beautify American coinage inspired this bold departure, matching the companion quarter eagle. Critics argued the recessed crevices would harbor germs, but the design survived for twenty-two years. The obverse depicts a Native American chief in a feathered headdress, while the reverse features a standing eagle on arrows with an olive branch. The 1909-O stands as the undisputed key date — the only New Orleans Mint issue, with a mintage of 34,200, produced during that historic facility's final year. Struck in .900 fine gold at Philadelphia and Denver (with the single New Orleans issue), these coins weigh 8.36 grams and measure 21.6 mm. Production ceased in 1929 when the gold standard's collapse effectively ended circulating gold coinage in the United States.

Series Information