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Indian Head Gold $10 Eagles

Published July 7, 2025

U.S. Gold Coins

Coin Design History

Indian Head Gold Eagles (1907–1933)

Collectors Key Editorial  •  Gold Series
Author NameChris D.Date PublishedApril 2, 2026 DenominationEagle ($10 Gold) Years Issued1907–1916, then 1920, 1926, 1930, 1932, 1933 only DesignerAugustus Saint-Gaudens Composition90% gold, 10% copper Weight16.718 grams Diameter27 mm EdgeStarred: 46 raised stars (1907–1911); 48 raised stars (1912–1933) TypesWire Rim (1907); Rounded Rim (1907); No Motto (1907–1908); With Motto IN GOD WE TRUST (1908–1933) Matte Proof MintageApproximately 768 total (Philadelphia, 1908–1915) MintsPhiladelphia (no mark); Denver (D); San Francisco (S)

Saint-Gaudens Died on August 3, 1907, Before a Single Coin Was Released; the Design He Had Developed for a Cent Became the Obverse of the $10 Gold Eagle

President Theodore Roosevelt's collaboration with Augustus Saint-Gaudens began around 1904 and called for redesigning the four denominations of gold coinage. Saint-Gaudens had originally developed the portrait of Liberty wearing a Native American war bonnet for a proposed cent, basing the head on an unused model for the Victory figure of his Sherman Monument and setting the word LIBERTY on the headband of the headdress. Roosevelt redirected this model to the ten-dollar eagle. For the reverse, Roosevelt selected Saint-Gaudens' standing eagle, which the sculptor had developed for the twenty-dollar double eagle and which shows the bird upright on a bundle of arrows, with an olive branch encircling the bundle of arrows beneath the eagle's feet. Saint-Gaudens submitted his models to the Mint on June 1, 1907, only to have Chief Engraver Charles Barber object that the relief was too high for coinage and that a date in Roman numerals was unworkable. Seriously ill from cancer, Saint-Gaudens agreed to drop the Roman numerals and sent revised models on June 24, leaving the remaining work to his assistant Henry Hering, who finished the eagle at a lower relief. Barber made additional modifications, including a rounded rim that allowed the coins to stack. Saint-Gaudens died on August 3, 1907, before a coin of his design had been struck for circulation. Roosevelt directed the Mint to finish the work and produce coins that month; the first pieces in the new design were delivered to the President on August 31. The edge of the coin carries raised stars rather than reeding or lettering: 46 stars through 1911, representing the states then in the Union, and 48 from 1912 onward when New Mexico and Arizona were admitted.1

Roosevelt Omitted IN GOD WE TRUST Because He Considered It Sacrilege; Congress Restored It by Statute Before the End of 1908

The omission of IN GOD WE TRUST from Saint-Gaudens' design was not an oversight. Roosevelt believed that placing the name of the Deity on a coin that might appear at a gambling table was a form of sacrilege, and the motto was deliberately left off both the eagle and the double eagle when they entered circulation in late 1907. Public reaction was immediate and hostile, and Congress passed legislation mandating the motto's return. Chief Engraver Barber added the words to the reverse, placing them to the left of the eagle, and With Motto production began in mid-1908. The series therefore divides into four collecting types: the Wire Rim and Rounded Rim issues of 1907, each struck from its own version of the dies; the No Motto regular-production type of late 1907 and early 1908; and the With Motto type of mid-1908 through 1933, which encompasses the great majority of the total mintage. Matte Proofs were produced at the Philadelphia Mint from 1908 through 1915, with some years also receiving a Roman finish; total proof production was 768 pieces across the eight years. Bela Lyon Pratt later adapted Saint-Gaudens' standing eagle reverse for the incuse Indian Head quarter eagle and half eagle, making the eagle's reverse the direct visual ancestor of those two denominations.2

The Wire Rim and Rounded Rim issues of 1907 occupy a category distinct from the rest of the series. The Wire Rim, characterized by a sharply raised rim and a finish closer to Saint-Gaudens' original vision than any subsequently struck production coin, had approximately 500 pieces struck, of which David Akers estimated 325 to 400 survive in Mint State; 70 unsold pieces were melted in 1915 or later. The Rounded Rim was a brief intermediate attempt to preserve the high-relief design with a modified rim. Approximately 32,000 were struck, but all but 50 were melted; Mint Director Frank Leach, writing in his 1917 memoir, recorded that the survivors were distributed to museums, officials, and others connected with the work. Both types are trophy rarities in the series. At Stack's Bowers Galleries on April 5, 2022, the Dr. Paul and Rosalie Zito Collection's 1907 Wire Rim Eagle, NGC Mint State 68, brought $840,000 as lot 4058, and its 1907 Rounded Rim Eagle, PCGS Mint State 67 CAC, brought $1,140,000 as lot 4059, both prices setting records at the time of sale.

Production Ran Continuously Through 1916, Then Stopped for Three Years and Resumed Only Intermittently; the 1933 Is Among the Rarest Coins in the Series Despite a Mintage of 312,500

The Indian Head eagle was struck every year from 1907 through 1916, though not at every mint each year: Philadelphia coined it from 1907 through 1915, San Francisco from 1908 through 1916, and Denver in 1908 through 1911 and in 1914. With the onset of World War I, gold coins commanded a premium above face value as bullion moved internationally to pay for war materials, and new production ceased after 1916. No eagles were struck in 1917 through 1919, 1921 through 1925, 1927 through 1929, or 1931. The final five years of production were 1920 (San Francisco only), 1926 (Philadelphia only), 1930 (San Francisco only), 1932 (Philadelphia only), and 1933 (Philadelphia only). In March 1933, before most of the year's mintage of 312,500 could be distributed, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered that no more gold coins be released from the Treasury; the bulk of the 1933 eagles were subsequently melted. The survivors, approximately 30 to 35 examples according to David Akers, with current population counts reaching approximately 40, were obtained directly from the Mint before the order took effect, and all known examples are Uncirculated. Unlike the 1933 twenty-dollar double eagle, whose legal ownership has been disputed in federal proceedings, the legal status of the 1933 eagle has never been called into question; private ownership is unambiguously lawful. The 1920-S and 1930-S are the other major rarities in the series, both involving substantial original mintages dramatically reduced by melting, with the 1920-S at approximately 126,500 struck and the 1930-S at approximately 96,000 struck, each surviving in numbers small enough to constitute genuine key dates in all grades.3

Building the Set

A two-type set requires a No Motto example and a With Motto example. For the No Motto type, the 1907 (239,406 struck) and the 1908-D (210,000 struck) are the most available; these are moderately priced through Mint State 62 and expensive above. For the With Motto type, the 1926 Philadelphia and 1932 Philadelphia are the best candidates in Gem (Mint State 65 or finer) condition: the 1932, with a mintage of 4,463,000, is the highest-mintage issue in the series and the most available in upper Mint State grades, though even this date becomes rare above Mint State 65. A date-and-mint set of the standard production issues, excluding the Wire Rim and Rounded Rim, encompasses 30 date-and-mint combinations; including those two 1907 issues brings the full collecting scope to 32 items. The 1911-D, with a mintage of only 30,100, has the lowest mintage of any regular-production issue in the series and carries a significant premium in Mint State, though only a modest one in circulated grades. The primary specialist reference is Garrett, Jeff, and Ron Guth, Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins, 1795–1933, 2nd ed. (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2008).4

Notes

  1. Roosevelt's collaboration with Saint-Gaudens beginning around 1904 for the four gold denominations; the obverse portrait of Liberty wearing a Native American war bonnet, originally developed for a proposed cent and based on an unused model for the Victory of the Sherman Monument, with LIBERTY on the headband; Roosevelt redirecting the model to the eagle; the reverse (standing eagle on arrows with olive branch) originally developed for the twenty-dollar double eagle; Saint-Gaudens submitting models June 1, 1907; Barber objecting to the relief and the Roman-numeral date; Saint-Gaudens agreeing to drop the Roman numerals and sending revised models June 24; Henry Hering finishing the eagle at a lower relief; Barber's modifications including a rounded rim that allowed the coins to stack; Saint-Gaudens dying August 3, 1907, before a coin was struck for circulation; Roosevelt directing the Mint to finish and produce coins that month; first pieces delivered to the President August 31; the starred edge (46 raised stars 1907-1911; 48 from 1912 when New Mexico and Arizona were admitted) are from Garrett, Jeff, and Ron Guth, Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins, 1795-1933, 2nd ed. (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2008), and Breen, Walter, Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins (New York: F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, 1988).
  2. Roosevelt's theological objection to IN GOD WE TRUST, believing placing the Deity's name on a coin that might appear at a gambling table was sacrilegious; the motto deliberately omitted from both the eagle and double eagle in late 1907; Congress mandating its return by statute; Barber adding the motto to the left of the eagle on the reverse; With Motto production beginning mid-1908; the four collecting types (Wire Rim 1907, Rounded Rim 1907, No Motto regular production 1907-1908, With Motto 1908-1933); proofs at Philadelphia 1908-1915, matte with some years in Roman finish, 768 in total (116, 74, 204, 95, 83, 71, 50, 75); Bela Lyon Pratt adapting Saint-Gaudens' standing eagle reverse for the incuse Indian Head quarter eagle and half eagle are from Garrett and Guth (2008) and Breen (1988).
  3. The Wire Rim at approximately 500 struck, with 325-400 surviving in Mint State per Akers and 70 unsold pieces melted in 1915 or later; the Rounded Rim at approximately 32,000 struck with all but 50 melted; Mint Director Frank Leach recording in his 1917 memoir, Recollections of a Newspaperman (San Francisco: S. Levinson, 1917), that the survivors were distributed to museums, officials, and others connected with the work; Stack's Bowers Galleries, Spring 2022 Auction, April 5, 2022, lot 4058, 1907 Wire Rim Eagle, NGC Mint State 68, $840,000, and lot 4059, 1907 Rounded Rim Eagle, PCGS Mint State 67 CAC, $1,140,000, both from the Dr. Paul and Rosalie Zito Collection, are from the Stack's Bowers Galleries press release 'Stack's Bowers Galleries Sells Zito Collection for Nearly $4.3 Million' (April 2022) and NGC, 'High-grade Gold Eagle Certified by NGC Realizes Over $800,000' (April 8, 2022). Production 1907-1916 by mint; no production 1917-1919, 1921-1925, 1927-1929, 1931; final five years 1920-S, 1926, 1930-S, 1932, 1933; FDR ordering in March 1933 that no more gold coins be released from the Treasury; the 1933 mintage of 312,500 with approximately 30-35 survivors per Akers' estimate (current counts reaching approximately 40), all Uncirculated, obtained directly from the Mint before the order took effect; the 1933 eagle's legal ownership unquestioned in contrast to the 1933 double eagle; the 1920-S at 126,500 and the 1930-S at 96,000 struck, both dramatically reduced by melting are from Garrett and Guth (2008) and Akers, David W., United States Gold Coins: An Analysis of Auction Records, Volume V: Eagles 1795-1933 (Englewood, Ohio: Paramount Publications, 1980).
  4. The No Motto type (the 1907 at 239,406 and the 1908-D at 210,000 as most available); With Motto type (1926 and 1932 Philadelphia as best Gem candidates); the 1932 at 4,463,000 as highest-mintage issue and most available in upper Mint State, rare above Mint State 65; a standard date-and-mint set of 30 combinations (32 with Wire Rim and Rounded Rim); the 1911-D at 30,100 as the lowest-mintage regular issue, with a significant premium in Mint State and a modest one in circulated grades; and the primary reference are from Garrett and Guth (2008).

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