1910 $5 Gold Indian Almost Uncirculated Condition

This new type represents a departure from all precedents in United States coinage. Its design features no raised edge, and the main devices and legends are in sunken relief below the surfaces of the coin. Boston sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt was the designer of this and the similar half-eagle piece. A pupil of the famous Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Pratt based his "standing eagle" motif on the reverse of his teacher's gold ten-dollar coin of 1907. (That eagle was itself derived from the reverse of Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 unofficial inaugural medal, designed by Saint-Gaudens and engraved by Adolph A. Weinman, who would later create the Liberty Walking half dollar. The general style had antecedents in coins of the ancient world.)

The obverse features the portrait of a Native American chieftain in formal headdress struck incuse with the words Liberty at the top and the date at the bottom. 13 stars frame the left and right sides: 6 at left and 7 on the right. The reverse has the traditional American eagle struck incuse in the center with the words, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA at top, E PLURIBUS UNUM left of the eagle, and IN GOD WE TRUST to the right of the eagle. The denomination FIVE DOLLARS struck below the eagle.

1910 $5 Gold Indian AU