1915-S $10 Indian Head Eagle PCGS MS63

Here is a quite beautiful example of a truly rare issue—with a mintage of 59,000—the 1915-S $10 Indian. It was President Theodore Roosevelt who kickstarted a revolution in numismatics when he talked Augustus Saint-Gaudens into redesigning the $10 Eagle and $20 Double Eagle coins over dinner at the White House back in 1905. PCGS has graded 38 examples as MS63 with 38 finer. Collectors Universe gives this issue a price of $22,500.00 in MS63.

It was Roosevelt’s inspiration to place the iconic American Indian headdress atop the head of Miss Liberty. David Akers writes, “The 1915-S is almost always very sharply struck and most specimens have excellent lustre. Quite often the obverse has the broad rim and partial wire edge seen on other San Francisco mint eagles from 1911 through 1916. The surfaces are fully frosty and display little or no granularity. The color is invariably excellent on this issue, typically light to medium orange, often highlighted with greenish gold. Some light to medium coppery gold specimens are also known.”

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who crafted the design—with a little help—of the Indian Head gold eagle. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.