1926 $10 Indian Head Eagle PCGS MS64

Here’s an affordable example of the popular Indian Head eagle in a near gem grade. David Akers writes, “Nearly all 1926 eagles are well struck and the lustre is rarely, if ever, less than very good to excellent. Color varies widely from greenish gold to light to medium orange gold. Many specimens also have coppery spots. Frosty specimens are the rule but a small percentage have somewhat satiny surfaces.”

PCGS has graded 5,055 examples as MS64 with 926 finer. Collectors Universe give this issue a price of $2,500.00 in MS64.

Lakota Chief Spotted Elk wearing an Indian headdress. Painting by Joseph H. Sharpe, 1905.

Saint-Gaudens took inspiration from the classical figure of Nike (Victory) when he drafted initial designs for a cent piece that was not developed further. This profile of Nike, bedecked with an olive wreath, became the obverse motif for his Eagle coin. President Theodore Roosevelt saw Saint-Gaudens' design for the eagle, and was not happy with it. He made his feelings known--and offered an artistic suggestion--in a letter to him dated November 14, 1905. Wrote Roosevelt, "...is it possible to make a Liberty with that Indian feather head-dress? ... Would the feather headdress be any more out of keeping with the rest of Liberty than the canonical Phyrgian cap which is never worn by any free people in the world?"