1911-D Quarter Eagle (1911-D $2.50 Indian), NGC MS63.  This key date lovely 1911-D Indian Quarter Eagle is bright and lustrous. The surfaces, which show slight granularity that is typical, are but for a couple of marks in front of the eagle, free of the abrasions that plague the series. The mintmark, usually weak on this date, is bold and so are the other details of the strike. The only hint of the usual softness is in the headdress lowest feather. The distinctive wire rim, an important indicator of authenticity, is observable at the upper right of the obverse and the lower left of the reverse. Designed by Bela Lyon Pratt, the quarter eagle depicts a realistic Native American brave facing left wearing an authentic looking headdress. LIBERTY is above and the date below. On the left are six five-pointed stars and on the right are seven. The designers initials are above the second 1 in the date. The reverse shows a large, majestic eagle standing on a bundle of arrows with an olive branch in its talon. The motif, reminiscent of the ancient Egyptians, is in homage to Augustus Saint-Gaudens and taken from his ten dollar coin. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the words separated by dots, is at the top. The denomination written as 2 DOLLARS is below. The D mintmark is near the edge to the left of the arrows. Both mottos E PLURIBUS UNUM and IN GOD WE TRUST are present with the former on the left and the latter on the right. The most innovative feature of this coin and Pratts half eagle as well, is that it is incuse. The devices are sunk beneath the fields. With this arrangement the high points of the design could not easily be worn away; however, the fields and especially the mint mark are susceptible to abrasion and wear because they are not protected by rims.

Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt and art collector and connoisseur, convinced him to allow Pratt to create unusual coins for the new quarter and half eagles. Neither man had any confidence in Engraver Charles Barber. They felt that any design he made would be mundane, and Roosevelt wanted to reform the coinage of the country, which had already begun with Saint-Gaudens eagle and double eagle. Pratts choice of a realistic Native American motif is a departure from the idealized female Caucasian Indian Head of prior years. Although the identity of the brave and his tribe are unknown, the design is seen as a continuation of a trend started with the portrait of Running Antelope, the Sioux chief on the 1899 five dollar bill. Of course from a modern perspective, there is irony in having a Native American being emblematic of Liberty considering the treatment that they received as a result of white mens laws.

The 1911-D quarter eagle is one of only three Denver mint coins in the series. The original mintage is 55,680. The next smallest mintage is the coin 1914 with 240,000. All of the other dates have mintages of over 380,000. Since the 1911-D is necessary to complete a date and mintmark set, it is eagerly sought by collectors, specialists, and investors.