1911-D $10 Indian Head Eagle PCGS MS61

You have a unique opportunity to own one of the rarest coins from the popular $10 gold Eagle series. Designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, this piece is a major rarity in 20th century gold coins, both in population and condition. The 1911-D cannot be easily located in any Mint State grade--but AUCM is offering it at this time in MS61. The discriminating collector will appreciate the prestige associated with ownership of a coin such as this.

President Theodore Roosevelt initiated the change in U.S. coinage in collaboration with sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It was his passion. For two and a half years, Roosevelt found the time, even in the midst of political and diplomatic struggles, to be deeply involved in numismatics. It was with a critical eye that the President followed every step in Saint-Gaudens’ work, making suggestions throughout the process. He didn’t care that Treasury Secretary Shaw thought he was “a cracked-brained lunatic on the subject.” The most obvious innovation from Roosevelt’s creative mind vis-à-vis the coins was in the case of the Liberty head on the $10 eagle. He requested that Saint-Gaudens replace the Phrygian cap in his original design with a traditional Indian feather headdress. The artist agreed wholeheartedly with the argument that “American Liberty should, if possible, have something distinctly American about her.”

Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth, in their book, Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins, 1794-1933 (2006) make the following observations about this issue: "The low mintage combined with the dismal survival rate leaves collectors with very few to choose from.... All Indian Head eagle collections are judged to some degree on the quality of the 1911-D issue."  Only 30,100 pieces were struck at the Denver mint. Thus the 1911-D is especially difficult for collectors of Mint State specimens to locate. According to the authors of The Coinage of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Ivy Press, 2006), one reason for the lack of availability of Mint State examples of this piece is that "almost all of the freshly struck coins were dispersed quickly into circulation, with few held back by collectors."