1909-O Indian Half Eagle

Specifications

Denomination: $5 half eagle
Series: Indian Head half eagle
Designer: Bela Lyon Pratt
Years of issue: 1909
Composition: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
Weight: 8.359 g
Diameter: 21.6 mm
Edge: Reeded
Mintage: 34200
Key mintages: 34,200 struck at New Orleans in 1909, the final year of that mint's coinage (PCGS).

Melt value: $1,050.95gold $4,345.00/ozt, copper $0.44/ozt · prices as of Sep 16, 2026

AI-generated illustration (no usable free real photo found).

34,200 struck — the Indian half eagle key from the final year of New Orleans coinage.

History

Designed by Bela Lyon Pratt with an unprecedented incuse (sunken) relief, commissioned under President Theodore Roosevelt’s coinage beautification program. (Heritage Auctions; PCGS, accessed 2026-09-16)
The New Orleans Mint ceased striking coins in 1909, making the 1909-O among the very last coins produced there. (Heritage Auctions; PCGS, accessed 2026-09-16)
Heritage describes the 1909-O as the ‘unequivocal rarity in the Indian Head half eagle series.’ (Heritage Auctions; PCGS, accessed 2026-09-16)
The incuse design — with all elements sunk below the coin’s surface — was unique among modern U.S. coinage. (Heritage Auctions; PCGS, accessed 2026-09-16)

Mintage of 34,200 — the key date of the Indian Head half eagle series. (Heritage Auctions; PCGS, accessed 2026-09-16)
Struck in the final year of New Orleans Mint coinage (production there ceased in 1909). (Heritage Auctions; PCGS, accessed 2026-09-16)
Genuine examples in uncirculated grades are exceedingly rare. (Heritage Auctions; PCGS, accessed 2026-09-16)

Authentication: on genuine pieces the ‘O’ mint mark is often weak on its left/lower-left side — a feature that exposes many crude counterfeits.
Typical strike softness appears on the headdress and the eagle’s shoulder.
The mint mark is on the reverse, to the left of the arrowhead.
No freely licensed exact-date/mint photo was verifiable — the available Commons image is a Philadelphia substitute. This entry uses an AI illustration pending a verified photo.