Numismatic

1910-S $5 Indian Half Eagle MS-62 PCGS

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The 1910-S Gold Indian Half Eagle represents a fascinating departure from traditional coinage design. Struck at the San Francisco Mint, this five-dollar piece features an incuse design, meaning the details and inscriptions are sunken below the flat surface of the coin rather than raised above it. This unusual technique gives the coin a distinct, tactile quality that sets the Indian Head series apart from almost all other United States coinage. Minted in 1910 with a purity of 0.900 gold, this coin contains 0.2419 troy ounces of precious metal. The obverse features a realistic portrait of a Native American chief wearing a traditional feathered headdress, surrounded by stars. On the reverse, a proud American eagle stands amidst the classic national mottos, including the Latin phrase meaning out of many, one. The subtle 'S' mint mark on the reverse indicates its origin at the historic San Francisco facility, which produced 770,200 of these half eagles in 1910. This particular specimen has been certified in Mint State 62 (MS-62) condition. Because the sunken fields of the incuse design left the raised portions of the coin highly vulnerable to contact marks, finding an example that has survived in such a well-preserved state offers a wonderful window into early twentieth-century American minting artistry.