1932 Indian $10 (1932 Eagle Indian) NGC MS65. Full cartwheel luster dances off the surfaces of this gem Indian Head 1932 Eagle. The delicate surfaces are original, clean, and, for the grade, free of distracting marks worthy of individual mention; of course, no wear is seen on either side of this attractive piece. The strike is above average with full details on most of the feather vanes, Libertys hair, and the eagles feathers.

The Indian Head eagle was designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The obverse consists of a close up profile of Liberty facing left wearing an American Indian headdress. 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 was 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 Theodore Roosevelt insisted that it be a feathered war bonnet to give the coin a more nationalistic appeal.

The reverse shows a powerful standing eagle that is suggestive of Egyptian art. The eagle stands on a bundle of arrows that resemble fasces. In Roman times, 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, one for each state in the union at the time.

Roosevelt, a deeply religious man, also felt that it was blasphemous to have Gods name on a coin. Coins were used for gambling, prostitution, hiring assassins, and worse. So he asked Saint-Gaudens to omit the motto In God We Trust. However, Congress felt otherwise, and during 1908 the motto was added to the lower left of the coin where it balances E PLURIBUS UNUM.

Because of Saint-Gaudens failing health, his former student, friend and assistant, Henry Hering, did most of the physical work on the coin as he did on the new double eagle as well. The reverse of the eagle was similar to a medal designed by Saint-Gaudens for Roosevelts second inauguration. It shows a standing eagle that is the opposite of the commercial type of art done by Charles Barber, the Mint Engraver.

There are two main types of Indian Head Eagles. The first is the No Motto or Type 1. The second type, the present coin, 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. Obviously the members of Congress who advocated the addition of the motto were not particularly concerned with maintaining the traditional separation between church and state. No doubt they were trying to prove that they were not atheists.