1911 Eagle Indian - 1911 $10 Indian PCGS MS65 CAC. Here is a fully lustrous, Gem 1911 Indian Head Eagle. The coin is well struck with strong details in Libertys hair and the vanes in the feathers. On the reverse, the feathers on the eagles shoulder are strong. The surfaces are original and clean with virtually no visible abrasion marks or other distractions worthy of note. The CAC sticker indicates that the coin is a premium quality piece that fully merits the assigned grade.

Saint-Gaudens Indian Head eagle was minted from 1907 to 1933. In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Smithsonian Institution and saw an exhibit of ancient Greek coins. He admired their high relief and bold designs and prevailed upon his friend Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who was in failing health, to design new gold coinage for the United States. Saint-Gaudens, who agreed with Roosevelt that the countrys coinage was hideous, redesigned the eagle and double eagle coins. Since Saint-Gaudens died in August, 1907, it is believed that the only new coin he actually saw was the gold eagle. The high relief of Saint-Gaudens Indian Head Eagle was criticized by Mint Engraver Charles Barber and other Mint workers.

The obverse consists of a close up profile of a head of Liberty facing left. Above her unrealistic war bonnet are thirteen stars in an arc. Below the truncation is the date. The origin of the profile is Saint-Gaudens own statue of Nike which is part of his memorial to General Sherman and can still be seen at the southern entrance to Central Park in New York City. Alice Butler was the model for the sculpture. Originally Saint-Gaudens wanted to place a wreath on Libertys head, but President Roosevelt insisted that it be a feathered war bonnet to give the coin a more nationalistic appeal. (Roosevelt also asked Saint-Gaudens to switch the designs of the eagle and double eagle coins. He felt that the close profile was more suited to an eagle size coin and that the striding figure of Liberty was better on the double eagle.)

The reverse of Saint-Gaudens Indian Head Eagle shows a powerful standing eagle that is suggestive of Egyptian art. It shows the eagle standing on a bundle of arrows that resemble fasces. In Roman iconography, fasces symbolized the power to kill or the power of life and death. Held on top of the arrows by the eagles talon is the olive branch, the traditional symbol of peace. Above the eagles head is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and in the right field is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. The denomination TEN DOLLARS is below. On its edge, the coin has forty-six raised stars.

There are two main types of Indian Head Eagles. The first is the No Motto or Type 1, which has a few varieties, with and without wire rims (also called rounded rims), periods before and after the motto, and a no periods variety. The second type has the motto IN GOD WE TRUST added to the reverse left field. The coins of this type were minted mid 1908 to the end of the series in 1933. Since the change to add the motto was made in the middle of the year, 1908 had both the No Motto and Motto on Reverse types. Most likely the members of Congress who advocated for the addition of the motto on the coinage were trying to prove that they were not atheists. Obviously they were not particularly concerned about maintaining the separation between church and state.

The 1911 eagle in MS65 grade is an excellent choice for the type or date collector. In its population report, PCGS shows 71 pieces graded MS65. CAC, as of February, 2013, has confirmed 35 in MS65.