$5 Indian Head Half Eagle Gold Coins – 1908 To 1929

$5 Indian Head Half Eagle gold coin is one of the most popular of all American gold coins. Designed by sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt its controversial incuse design sparked debate and disagreement when first released. Driven partly by its gold content and even more by its numismatic value the $5 Indian Head Half Eagle gold coin is a great addition to any coin collection.

America in 1908 was a nation in the midst of wide ranging social and economic change. Headlines of the day sound like they were ripped right from today’s news. Women were banned from smoking in public in New York City. A car began production that was advertised to get 25 miles to the gallon. The first “Round the World” car race was staged. New Years Day was celebrated by the famous ball dropping for the first time in New York’s Times Square. And the new $5 Indian Head Half Eagle gold coin, as well as its smaller sibling the Quarter Eagle, debuted in November 1908 to great controversy.

Explore Indian Head Gold Eagles on sale by clicking here…President Theodore Roosevelt had determined it was time for the nations coinage to change and become more beautiful. The well known sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt designed the obverse and reverse for the Half Eagle as well as the smaller Quarter Eagle. And the design was controversial from the start. It didn’t look like the typical American gold coin with its incuse, or sunken, design. Complaints were made that the portrait of the Native American model appeared emaciated. Banks complained the gold coins were difficult to stack and would be too easy to counterfeit. It was even claimed by some that the coins design would harbor dirt, germs and disease making them a hygiene problem, all of which proved untrue.

Roosevelt let the coins production move forward as planned despite the complaints and the complainers. The

$5 Indian Head Half Eagle Gold Coins – 1908 To 1929

Tags: $5 gold coin, $5 Half Eagle, $5 Half Eagle Coin, $5 Indian Head gold coin, $5 Indian Head Half Eagle, $5 Indian Head Half Eagle gold coin, american gold coins, gold coin, Gold Eagle Coin

Posted in General