$5 Indian Head MS62
$5 Indian Head MS62
$5 Indian Head coins are part of the $10 and $2.5 Indian Head coin collection. The $5 Indian Head coin is one of two coins designed by sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt. (The other being the $2.50 Indian Head coin.) As with the $20 Saint-Gaudens gold piece, President Theodore Roosevelt played an important role in the design and revamping of this smaller gold coin. While looking for a sculptor to design these coins, Roosevelt's good friend, Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, recommended Pratt who had once been a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Appearance
The obverse pictures an Indian Chief, the first true American Indian ever to appear on United States coinage. Previously, Caucasian models dressed in American Indian attire were used. The chief on the Indian Head is wearing a full-feathered headdress with the word Liberty inscribed on the headband. A border of thirteen stars and the minting date encircle him. The reverse features a proud bald eagle standing among olive branches, surrounded by the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST and the denomination also appear on the reverse.
What sets the $5 and $2.50 Indian Head coins apart from other United States gold coins is that they were the first (and only) US gold coins to use the technique known as incuse relief, giving the design elements and lettering a sunken-in appearance on a uniformly flat plane.
* Pictures are an indication only, price of coins are applicable for dates of our choice
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