They $5 Indian Head Half Eagle was minted yearly from 1908 unitil 1916, after which production stopped, and then resumed again in 1929, and then was permanently stopped. Although the mintage of coins in 1929 was fairly large, many were melted due to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order of April 5, 1933, making this one of the most important dates in the series. This is one of two coins designed by Bela Lyon Pratt, with the other being the $2½ Indian Head Quarter Eagle. President Theodore Roosevelt wanted the currency of America to be revamped, hiring Pratt (a sculptor and student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens) to begin creating this new design.
