1914-D Half Eagle PCGS MS65 - 1914-D $5 Indian PCGS MS65. This very lustrous, Western branch mint, Gem 1914-D Half Eagle has a less granular appearance than on many dates in the series. The coin is tied for the second finest known at PCGS and NGC. It is well struck with full details on the ends of the feathers and the highest area of the wing. The yellow-gold surfaces are completely original and extremely clean for the grade with virtually no abrasion marks that are visible without magnification. The coin looks good enough to be even a point higher than designated. (Note: the smudge marks in the middle of the obverse and the tip of the first feather are on the holder not the coin.)

In 1908 the new Indian Head half eagle was produced. Designed by Bela Lyon Pratt, the new coin had two very different innovations related to its design. One was the realism used in the portrait of the Indian brave on the obverse, and the other was the use of incuse design details. President Theodore Roosevelt, influenced by his friend, Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, wanted the coinage of the country redesigned. His pet crime was to bypass the mediocre Charles Barber, the Mint Engraver. Roosevelt, who was now in his second term of office, wanted to reform the coinage of the United States, which he felt was atrociously hideous. He wanted the half eagle to use an American Indian as an emblem of liberty and to use the incuse design of the ancients.

The obverse shows a profile view of an authentic looking brave facing left. He is wearing a full headdress. Above him is LIBERTY and below is the date. Six five-pointed stars are on the left and seven are on the right. The reverse shows a standing eagle, reminiscent of the reverse of Saint-Gaudens eagle coin. Pratt fit the four inscriptions on the reverse without it seeming overcrowded. E PLURIBUS UNUM is in the left field, and IN GOD WE TRUST is in the right. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the words separated by dots is above, and FIVE DOLLARS is below. The eagle stands on a bundle of arrows that resembles the Roman fasces, symbol of the power to kill, and holds an olive branch, symbol of peace.
The use of realism in the obverse portrait was innovative because prior designed Indian head motifs used stylized busts and fanciful war bonnets. Although the name and tribe of Pratts Indian brave are unknown, he is clearly authentic looking. Pratts use of this figure is seen as an extension of a trend started in 1899 with the portrait of Running Antelope on the five dollar silver certificate.

The incuse design of the coin was also an innovation for United States coinage. No regularly circulating coin ever made use of this process before. It was criticized by numismatists and people in banking and commerce. They felt that the coins would not stack, could be easily counterfeited, and were unsanitary because dirt would get into the incused features. However, despite this opposition, the public was indifferent, and the coins remained in production and circulation until 1929, when the Great Depression caused general economic upheaval.

Bela Lyon Pratt was a former student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, hence, the reverse of the coin in homage to him. Pratt studied sculpture in Paris at the Ecole des Beau Arts. When he returned to the United States, he became an instructor at the Boston Museum School. Pratt was considered a prominent sculptor and medal maker. One of his works was a medal he made for the bicentennial of Yale University. Another was a medal for the President of Harvard University. In addition to medals, he also made busts and other sculptures. In 1915 he won a gold medal for an exhibit of seventeen pieces at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in California.

In its population report, PCGS shows 13 in MS65 condition with 3 better. At NGC there is only 1 better. These numbers do not account for crossovers and resubmissions.