#29 • 1908 $5 & 1910 $2.50 Indian Head Half & Quarter Eagle Gold Coins

Part of December 2025 Premier Auction (live auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

High bid $2,500.00

Status: Sold

Category: Coins

Two Indian Head Gold Coins, one Half and one Quarter Eagle. Further details on each coin follow below: Variety: United States $5 Indian Head Gold Half Eagle coin Face Value: $5.00 each Year(s)/Mint Mark(s): 1908 (key-date coin) Metal Content: 90% Gold, 10% Copper Graded: No, condition as photographed Notes: One of the shortest-lived series in U.S. coin history, the 1908-1929 "Gold Indian" $5 coins are collector favorites today. People love the magnificent portrait of an authentic-looking Native American on the obverse and the proud Bald Eagle on the coin's reverse. But what really sets these coins apart is their recessed or incused design which was basically a reverse of the normal die in that the design was pressed into the coin rather than the typical coin where the design rises outward from the coin. Designed by Boston sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt under the direction of President Teddy Roosevelt, who sought to enhance the artistic appeal of American coinage, the $5 Gold Indians were struck from 1908 to 1916 and again for one last time in 1929, the last $5 "Half Eagle" denominations to be struck for circulation, ending a run that began in the 1790s. Coin weighs 8.35 grams. Variety: United States $2.50 Indian Head Quarter Eagle Gold Coin Face Value: $2.50 each Year(s)/Mint Mark(s): 1910 Metal Content: 90% Gold, 10% Copper Graded: No, condition as photographed Notes: In the history of the United States coinage, only two circulating coins were ever struck with an incuse design, where the design sits below the surface of the coin rather than above it - the $2.50 and $5 Gold Indians. The theory was that by recessing their design, the coins would last longer. Sadly, this was not the case, but the theory did lead to the creation of some of the most unique coins ever struck by the United States Mint. Coin weighs 4.18 grams.