1926 $10 Indian Head Eagle PCGS AU58

Here's a great piece at a great price. Attractive example of Saint-Gaudens' beautifully designed $10 eagle (1907-1933). PCGS has graded 526 in AU58, with 40,241 finer.

Saint-Gaudens' model of the Liberty design for the cent. He adapted it for the $10 gold eagle coin. However, Roosevelt insisted on adding an Indian feather headdress.

Saint-Gaudens took inspiration from the classical figure of Nike (Victory) when he drafted initial designs for a cent piece that was not developed further. This profile of Nike, bedecked with an olive wreath, became the obverse motif for this Eagle coin. President Theodore Roosevelt saw Saint-Gaudens' design for the eagle, and was not happy with it. He made his feelings known--and offered an artistic suggestion--in a letter to him dated November 14, 1905. Wrote Roosevelt, "...is it possible to make a Liberty with that Indian feather head-dress? ... Would the feather headdress be any more out of keeping with the rest of Liberty than the canonical Phyrgian cap which is never worn by any free people in the world?"