A masterwork of numismatic artistry. There is no other way to eloquently describe Saint-Gaudens’ Indian Head Eagle coin. It is also quite an affordable masterwork! 1907 was the first year of this popular series, and collectors seeking a type coin like to acquire that all-important first year issue. The obverse design is a true collaboration between Augustus Saint-Gaudens and President Theodore Roosevelt. It was Roosevelt who insisted on adding the Indian feather headdress to make the coin iconically American. PCGS has graded 2,936 as MS62 with 3,695 finer.

President Theodore Roosevelt, who collaborated with Saint-Gaudens during his presidency on the creation of the $10 gold eagle (as well as the $20 double eagle coin). He spoke eloquently in a memorial speech honoring the artist after his passing.

After his death, Theodore Roosevelt honored Augustus Saint-Gaudens as an artist and friend by saying in a 1908 memorial speech that his double eagle and eagle were “more beautiful than any coins since the days of the Greeks, and they achieve their striking beauty because Saint-Gaudens not only possessed a perfect mastery in the physical address of his craft, but also a daring and original imagination.”

In a thank you letter to Roosevelt, Saint-Gaudens’ widow, Augusta, wrote, “Such a tribute from you would, I know, have meant much to him especially the recognition of his labor on the coins into which he put his whole heart. Your presence with Mrs. Roosevelt gave to the memorial a character and meaning which without you it could not have happened and I hardly know how to thank you both for this expression of your friendliness now that he is gone.”