1910

Philadelphia struck 604,000 of these $5 gold pieces in 1910, the third year of Bela Lyon Pratt's incused Indian design. The figure places the issue comfortably in the middle of the series for production volume, and the date is regarded as common across most circulated grades. It is not a coin chased for rarity. It is collected because it is one of the more available windows into a short, distinctive series of pre-WWI gold half eagles.

The design itself is the story. Pratt sank the portrait and reverse eagle into the field rather than raising them above it, which means the high points of the headdress and the eagle's wing sit at the same level as the surrounding surface. Wear collects in those recessed pockets and tones unevenly, which is why grading often hinges on the cheekbone and the feather tips of the bonnet rather than on the rims. Surfaces frequently show light grease staining or planchet flaws inherited from the original strike, both common to the type and not by themselves disqualifying. For authentication, weight should fall at 8.359 grams with a diameter of 21.6 millimeters, and the incused design itself is difficult to counterfeit cleanly because struck fakes rarely recreate the sharp interior edges of the recessed devices.

For a buyer working in the EF to MS-62 band, the 1910 Philadelphia is a sensible representative of the series rather than a key. Choice uncirculated examples appear regularly at auction, with PCGS MS-63 pieces typically trading in the low four figures depending on eye appeal and CAC status. Collectors building a date set will find this issue easier to locate than the New Orleans or Denver coins from the same span, and many uncirculated survivors traceable to the Fairmont Collection have entered the market in recent years. Background on the type and its place in the gold coinage of the early twentieth century is available on the Indian Head Half Eagle series history.