Blanchard

President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign all American coinage, but Saint-Gaudens died of cancer after completing design work for the $10 (Eagle) and $20 (Double Eagle) gold pieces. Fortunately, in late 1907 Roosevelt was able to contact one of Saint-Gaudens' students, Bela Lyon Pratt, and commission him to redesign the $2.50 and $5.00 denominations. A year later, the numismatic community was surprised by Pratt's innovative Indian design, which featured the legends and motifs incused rather than raised on the coin. In other words, as a departure from earlier United States coinage, the devices were recessed into the surface of the coin. These are the only U.S. coins minted in this manner.

One reason the $2.50 Indian is such an attractive investment and collector's item is that the coin was minted during only 13 years, making it one of the shortest-lived series in U.S. numismatics. Quarter Eagles of this type were produced in 1908 through 1915 and again from 1925 through 1929, after which time the denomination was suspended.