Lot 2232
1907 $10 Indian. NGC graded MS-66. Satin smooth gem. Effusive mint frost in amounts so copious it borders on an even higher grade, plus warm flaxen-gold to orange-gold color. Desirable with this meticulous strike.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens' so-called "Indian" Head Eagles are more properly a concoction of his creative genius having to mold itself to the political realities of coin design. Read some of Walter Breen's lively discussion about how this special coin came about: "For the new eagle design, Augustus St. Gaudens (in consultation with Pres. Theodore Roosevelt) decided to use not a standing figure but a head, feeling that the heroic effect of any standing figure, as chosen for the double eagle, would be lost in smaller diameter. The President disgusted beyond measure at what he called our 'atrociously hideous' coinage, had asked St. Gaudens to design replacements.
The profile St. Gaudens chose originated in a figure of Nike ('Victory'), part of his Gen. Sherman Monument (1905), ultimately inspired by a Hellenistic Wingless Victory on the temple of Zeus Soter. at Pergamon. At Pres. Roosevelt's insistence, and for no other reason, St. Gaudens gave this head a nationalistic character by the absurd addition of a feathered war bonnet, such as neither Ms. Liberty nor any Native American woman would have ever worn." 239,406 coins minted. Pop 116; 19 finer.
Estimated Value $8,000 - 9,000.
The Greenhill Collection.
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| Realized $13,225 |
