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While still in the conceptualizing stage, the
Indian Head Quarter Eagle design found favor with President Theodore
Roosevelt. In 1908 it began regular production.
The Indian Head Quarter Eagle was unusual in that its main features
were incused (i.e. indented into the coin), rather than raised above
the surface, as all previous US coins were.
Without doubt, the key date is the 1911-D Indian
Head Quarter Eagle,
having a mintage of only 55,860 pieces. The next scarcest is the 1914,
which saw a mintage of 240,117.
In 1911, the Denver Mint was preoccupied with the production of the
Lincoln Cent for the first time. Other high demand denominations (e.g.
the dime) consumed much of the remaining capacity, leaving little time
for quarter eagle production.
The Indian Head Quarter Eagle was discontinued in 1929. It is one of
the few US gold coin sets that a collector has a reasonable expectation
of completing. The only really tough coin to acquire is the 1911-D,
which explains why it sells for more than 10 times as much as any other
member of the group. The 1911-D always has been and always will be the
leader of the pack.
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