Designed by: Bela Lyon Pratt
Issue Dates: 1908-1929
Composition: 90% gold, 10% copper
Diameter: 18 mm
Weight: 4.18 grams (64.50 grains)
Edge: Reeded
Business Strike Mintage: 7,250,261
In 1908 numismatists were surprised by the advent of the new quarter eagle and half eagle designed by sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt, for no advance notice had been released concerning them. A departure from the procedure used earlier in United States coinage, the new design features were recessed or incuse in the coins, with the field of the pieces, normally the lowest part, being the highest part. The obverse of the Pratt quarter eagle, known as the Indian Head type, features an Indian chief facing left, with LIBERTY above, six stars to the left and seven to the right, and the date below. The reverse shows an eagle perched on a branch or log, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above, E PLURIBUS UNUM to the left, IN GOD WE TRUST to the right, and the denomination expressed as 2½ DOLLARS below.
Examples were produced at the Philadelphia Mint from 1908 through 1915 and again from 1925 through 1929. Denver Mint pieces were produced in 1911, 1914 and 1925, with the 1911-D considered to be the rarity of the series.
The type set collector can easily find examples of the Indian Head quarter eagle in grades from Very Fine to AU. Uncirculated pieces are scarce, and superb Uncirculated pieces are very scarce. The scarcity of higher-grade pieces is explained not by the mintages, which in most instances were generous, but by the format of the coin. The field of a typical coin, exposed to wear and other effects, acquired marks quickly, and even storage in a mint bag was apt to reduce the grade of a piece below the Uncirculated level.
