2.5 Dollar Gold Coin "Indian Head" 1908-1929
The Indian Head Gold dollars are very popular with collectors worldwide because of their high gold content and their historical coinage. The coin motif shows an Indian head with feather jewelry. Right beside the neck are the initials "B.L.P.", which stands for the Boston-born sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt (1867-1917).
The 2.5 dollar "Indian Eagle" made of 900 fine gold is not only the first coin minted without a margin but also the last gold dollar of a whole series of "Quarter Eagle", which were in circulation in the United States as an objective means of payment. These included the "Turban Head", the "Draped Bust", the "Capped Head", the "Classic Head" and the "Liberty Head". From 1908, in addition to the 2.5 dollar US gold coin, the 5 dollar gold coin with the new Indian Head motif was minted. The 21/2 dollar "Indian Head" was minted until 1915. After a decade of pause, production resumed in 1925 for another five years. The stamping ended in 1929 in the wake of the major stock market crash on New York's Wall Street.
The introduction of the Federal Reserve System - the Central Bank system of the United States - in 1913 increased the circulation of banknotes at the expense of the gold dollar: in 1915, quarter dollars and after 1916 also half-dollars with the national animal of the USA ceased. Another factor in their "downfall" was the sharp rise in the price of gold after the First World War. The national symbol of the United States, the sea eagle, was taken over by Theodore Roosevelt's presidential inauguration medal. On the lapel to the left of the sea eagle is the phrase "E Pluribus Unum" which translates as "Out of many, one" and to the right of it "In God we trust" - "In God we trust", a motto that is still missing on the first Gold Half Liberty Eagle with the crowned Liberty of 1839. A popular custom was to give them away for Christmas.