The Indian Head Quarter Eagle Coins or the Indian Eagle Head $2.50 were initially designed by Bela Lyon Pratt in 1908. The idea of changing the original coins design with the portrait of Lady Liberty to double eagle and eagle was made by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901. The first designer to make the new design on the $10 gold coins was Augustus St Gaudens, who sculpted both the double eagle and eagle head images.
Indian Head Quarter Eagle Gold Coins
The idea of the change was influenced by the life expectancy of the normal American which was at 50 years at the beginning of the 20th century. During the time, the gold coins that were designed with the portrait of a coronet-worn Miss Liberty were already well passed its 60th anniversary. When Augustus St Gaudens was arranged by President Roosevelt to make the quintessential changes, the President took his interest in coinage to a new level.
In 1907, St Gaudens infamous and highly rated Double Eagle Gold Coins of $20 face value and Eagle Head Gold Coins of $10 face value designs received rave reviews from the people of the United States. That prompted President Roosevelt to give permission to St Gaudens to redesign another two gold coins for the following year but St Gaudens never materialized them as he died on August 3rd, 1907. Later, the job of redesigning the remaining two gold coins was given to William Sturgis Bigelow, a close friend of President Roosevelt. Bigelow then searched for aid in the form of Bela Lyon Platt, a sculptor from Boston, who did not disappoint when he came up with the Indian Head Quarter Eagle coins with the face value of $2.50.
Platt’s designs and sculpting was one of a kind when he uniquely incused the portrait of the Indian head and eagle rather than sculpting the coin sides raised, very distinct from the other United States Mint’s gold coins designs in existence. The design sets another benchmark in the United States coinage rich history and the rarities of the design made the coins one of the most beautifully designed coins in the world. The coins also were designed without the need of protective rims but the lack the “In God We Trust” inscriptions made the coins gained their fair share of critics.
The Indian Head Quarter Eagle Coins began to be minted in 1908 until 1929 but the production was halted between 1915 and 1925 as the World War I began and was permanently discontinued in 1929. The other famous eagle gold coins were the Indian Head Half Eagle with the denomination of $5, Indian Head Eagle with $10 face value and the most popular Indian Head series which is the Indian Head Double Eagle with $20 face value. All of the Indian Head Eagle Gold Coins got their original denominations derived from the $10 Eagle Gold Coins.
Nonetheless, the most controversial Eagle gold coins were St Gaudens’ 1933 Double Eagle which was issued from 1907 to 1932. The Double Eagles were never released on the minted year during the Great Depression. Economy had to be stabilized and banks had to be run on a minimum and the government ordered for all of the gold coins to be returned and destroyed. In 1937, the Double Eagle Gold Coins were then melted and converted into bullion gold by the United States Mint.
Although the Indian Head quarter eagles coins were minted yearly from 1908 to 1915, and resumed circulation in 1925, the gold coins version were one of the smallest series in the United States Mint coinage collection. Bela Platt’s Quarter Eagle was sculpted with a portrait of an Indian wearing a war bonnet on its obverse while the reverse portrayed an eagle resting on an olive branch that symbolizing the peacefulness of the country and the ever readiness of its military. Its diameter was recorded at 18 millimetres and weight at 4.18 grams, with .12094 ounce of pure gold.
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Auctions in eBay
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| 1912 250 DOLLAR GOLD INDIAN HEAD QUARTER EAGLE | |
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$275.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 2h 11m |
| 1914 D 2 1 2 INDIAN HEAD GOLD QUARTER EAGLE ANACS EF45 XF45 | |
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$339.00 Time Remaining: 17d 12h 35m Buy It Now for only: $339.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
| 1910 250 Indian Head Quarter Eagle Gold Coin | |
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$239.50 (15 Bids) Time Remaining: 4h 35m |
| 1910 250 Indian Head Quarter Eagle Gold Coin | |
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$265.00 (15 Bids) Time Remaining: 4h 36m |
| 1911 Gold Indian Head 2 1 2 Quarter Eagle NGC MS 62 | |
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$575.00 Time Remaining: 16d 7h 6m Buy It Now for only: $575.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
| 1911 250 GOLD INDIAN HEAD QUARTER EAGLE ANACS AU 58 | |
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$281.00 (13 Bids) Time Remaining: 4h 40m |
| 1912 Indian Head Quarter Eagle Gold Coin 250 Face Value Gold Coin | |
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$262.77 (9 Bids) Time Remaining: 8h 16m |
| 250 GOLD Quarter Eagle 1910 Indian Head No Reserve + Free Ship | |
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$268.00 (11 Bids) Time Remaining: 10h 5m |
| 1912 P 250 NGC AU58 Gold Indian Head US Coin 2 1 2 Dollar Quarter Eagle | |
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$325.00 Time Remaining: 26d 6h 51m Buy It Now for only: $325.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
| 1925 D EXCELLENT INDIAN HEAD QUARTER EAGLE | |
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$222.50 (10 Bids) Time Remaining: 11h 50m |
| 1914 EXCELLENT INDIAN HEAD QUARTER EAGLE | |
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$212.61 (7 Bids) Time Remaining: 12h 13m |
| 1927 2 1 2 INDIAN HEAD GOLD QUARTER EAGLE PCGS MS62 | |
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$519.00 Time Remaining: 14d 11h 55m Buy It Now for only: $519.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
| 1913 INDIAN HEAD GOLD QUARTER EAGLE 25 MS 61 NGC | |
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$385.00 Time Remaining: 13h 43m |
| 1915 P indian head Quarter eagle gold NICE | |
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$207.55 (5 Bids) Time Remaining: 13h 46m |
| 1927 INDIAN HEAD GOLD QUARTER EAGLE 25 AU 58 NGC | |
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$325.00 Time Remaining: 13h 55m |
| 1915 Gold Indian Head 2 1 2 Quarter Eagle NGC AU 58 | |
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$395.00 Time Remaining: 4d 9h 15m Buy It Now for only: $395.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
| 1929 INDIAN HEAD GOLD QUARTER EAGLE 25 UNC DETAILS NGC | |
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$299.00 Time Remaining: 14h 7m |
| 1914 P Indian Head Quarter Eagle Gold NICE | |
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$207.55 (6 Bids) Time Remaining: 14h 7m |
| 1927 250 NGC MS61 Gold Indian Head US Coin 2 1 2 Dollar Quarter Eagle | |
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$430.00 Time Remaining: 20d 9h 34m Buy It Now for only: $430.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
| 1928 25 GOLD INDIAN HEAD QUARTER EAGLE CERTIFIED ANACS MS 63 | |
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$775.00 Time Remaining: 14h 24m |
