1908 Indian Head Half Eagle

About This Coin

The 1908 Indian Head Half Eagle is a United States Gold Half Eagle from the Indian Head Half Eagles 1908-1929 series — the first year of the series. In 1908, coins were struck at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints with a combined mintage of 808,012. This ranks 5th of 10 years by total mintage, below the series median of 1.2 million. The obverse features a Native American chief wearing a feathered headdress, designed in incuse (sunken) relief — a revolutionary departure from traditional raised relief coinage and the reverse displays a standing eagle on a bundle of arrows with an olive branch, in incuse (sunken) relief. First year of the incuse half eagle. Philadelphia and Denver struck coins. Initial controversy over the sunken-relief design. Struck in gold, weighing 8.36 grams, 21.6 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Produced 8 years before the celebrated 1916 key date. Across its variants, estimated values range from $1.4K to $22K depending on mint mark, grade, and strike type. A notable auction result reached $192K in MS68 grade at Heritage Auctions. Designed by Bela Lyon Pratt.