1907 Indian Head Gold $10 Eagle

President Theodore Roosevelt was looking for a revival of sorts in American coinage during the early 1900s when he tapped famous sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign gold coinage. Eventually, Saint-Gaudens would redesign the $10 gold eagle coin, which had the same Liberty Head design dating back to 1840. The new $10 eagle would feature an obverse portrait of Miss Liberty wearing a Native American style headdress; on the reverse is an American bald eagle standing on arrows surrounded by an olive branch.

There would be three types of 1907 $10 gold eagle coins, with two types ranking as quite rare:

• 1907, 500 minted; Type 1, wire rim with periods – $18,000

• 1907, 40 known to exist; Type 2, rounded rim, periods before and after E PLURIBUS UNUM - $56,000

• 1907, 239,406; Type 3, no periods – $1,508

*Values listed above are for coins grading Very Fine 20.

As should be done with all scarce coins, be sure that you verify the authenticity of any Type I and Type II 1907 $10 gold eagles that you consider buying. There are many, many counterfeit coins out there, and it seems they are becoming more prevalent as the counterfeiting technology advances further and further. Your best bet is to only buy gold coins that have been authenticated by a third-party coin grader.