If You’re Looking For Stunning American Eagle Gold Coins, Then Check Out This 2-Piece Set of 1908-1929 Indian Quarter Eagle/Half Eagle Coins With Bonus!
It is believed that the $20 Saint-Gaudens, or double eagle, gold coin is the most breathtakingly beautiful coin in U.S. history. However, there are two smaller American eagle gold coins from the same period in history that steal the limelight, due to their bold and cutting-edge design. That would be the $2.50 and $5 gold coins, also known as the Indian Head quarter eagle and half eagle. Nonetheless, these two particular gold coins were not exactly welcomed with open arms. First of all, these coins are quite unusual because their relief is incuse. For those of you not of the numismatic world, this means that the motifs and legends are sunken in a surface that is uniformly flat. Other traditional coins have the legends raised above the surface of the coin and rely on the rim for protection.
A close friend of President Roosevelt, William S. Bigelow, who was a physician and art collector from Boston, proposed the unique idea of the incused design, and the President proudly approved it. This design would be able to reduce wear and tear and avoid replacement costs on legal tender coinage. But people complained that the depressed design would be a dirt collector and thus, a germ breeder and in addition, would be easy to counterfeit. There was also griping that these coins wouldn’t stack properly, of all things!
How The $10 Indian American Gold Coin Was Changed
The renowned master sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, was commissioned in 1905 by President Teddy Roosevelt, to create a totally new look and design for the American gold coins. President Roosevelt, who favored the ancient Greek tradition of coinage, requested that these gold coins be created in this manner with fresh and new designs.
The obverse side of the coin depicted Miss Liberty all adorned in an Indian War Bonnet. This came about when Mr. St-Gaudens mixed two separate traditions for the $10 gold coin... that is using the prior Miss Liberty profile, and then adding the feathered Indian headdress. The newly designed American gold coin had an unusual edge that consisted of 46 stars, representing the 46 states that comprised the Union at that time. Later, in 1912, New Mexico and Arizona joined the union and 2 more stars were added.
The reverse of the new $10 gold coin design featured a very proud eagle perched upon a bundle of arrows. Many who saw this new and magnificent design considered this to be one of the U.S. finest works of design in gold art. To this day, it remains one of the finest works by this great sculptor.
Mintages of this outstanding $10 Indian American gold coin were extremely limited and this added to its rarity and very high desirability by many collectors. The actual total number of these Indian gold coins minted were far less that the even a single year's mintage of the Morgan silver dollar, and in fact, from 1907 to 1933, the coins were only struck intermittently. Then, in 1933, the Treasury recalled American gold coins, and millions of them were melted down and destroyed forever.
The $10 Indian gold coin is a part of American history and highly sought after by many coin and gold collectors. It is recommended for your gold coin collection, with the more popular dates being 1926 through 1929.
Elegant 2009 St Gaudens $20 Gold Piece
This elegant gold bullion coin was first designed by Augustus St. Gaudens in 1907, at the request of President Teddy Roosevelt. This spectacular gold coin was a High Relief $20 piece, however, because of the practical considerations of having this coin minted for general circulation, it was never produced the way St. Gaudens designed it. The Mint is now striking a 2009 $20 St. Gaudens, again in High Relief, over 100 years later, and the results are beyond description and expectations. The new gold bullion coin contains one full troy ounce of gold and contains 99.99% fine pure gold.
The original 1907 $20 St. Gaudens High Relief gold piece version MS68 has sold in excess of $300,000.00. You can purchase the 2009 High Relief St. Gaudens at only a fraction of this price, plus the modern coin is so much more elegant and impressive. This is and will be the coin of the year without a doubt! Collect historic and rare coins at GovMint.com
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