$5 Gold Indian Half Eagle, MS 61, Certified PCGS or NGC
Good luster, well struck, no spots.
1908-1929

$5 GOLD INDIAN HALF EAGLE

The $5 Gold Indian Half Eagle is very unique, due to its sunken design, which broke with tradition. The only other U.S. coin with this incused design is the $2 1/2 Gold Indian, and all other U.S coins have their details raised above a flat surface, otherwise known as "relief." All the fine details of the Indian, the Eagle, and the writing are recessed into the surface of the gold. This design was created to lower costs, typically necessary to replace gold coins due to wear and tear from wide circulation.

The $5 Gold Indians were minted from 1908-1916, and once again in 1929. In 1933 the U.S. Treasury under newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt confiscated all gold coins, and most of them were destroyed in a major meltdown.