1908-D Indian Head Eagle (With Motto)
Circulation strike struck at the Denver Mint · 836,500 made
- Mintage
- 836,500
- Metal
- 90% gold, 10% copper
- Weight
- 16.718 g
- Diameter
- 27 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1908-D Indian Head Eagle (With Motto) worth?
Collectors pay a real premium for this date, worn or not, because far fewer were made than usual. Uncirculated pieces go much higher.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1908-D Indian Head Eagle (With Motto) rare?
- Somewhat. 836,500 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1908-D Indian Head Eagle (With Motto) real gold?
- No, it's gold: 0.4837 troy ounces of pure gold.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1908 Indian Head Eagle?
- On the reverse, to the left of the arrow points. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is D, for Denver.
- Which Denver dates near 1908 are scarcer?
- The 1911-D at 30,100, the 1909-D at 121,540, the 1908-D (No Motto) at 210,000. So the 1908-D is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1908-D Indian Head Eagle (With Motto) coins were made?
- 836,500.
What to check on your 1908-D
- Make sure the mint mark really is a D. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1908 (33,500 made).
- Count the stars on the edge. Eagles dated 1907 to 1911 have 46 raised stars, one for each state at the time. A coin with this date and 48 stars is not genuine.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check the feathers above Liberty's eye and the eagle's wing. Gold is soft, so bag marks on the cheek strongly affect the grade.
Gold coins are counterfeited more than any other US coins. A genuine 1908-D weighs 16.718 g and measures 27 mm. Buy certified examples from a reputable dealer.
The story of the 1908-D
Denver ramped up hard in 1908: 836,500 coins, about 4 times the 1908 run. The next year it made 121,540 (1909-D).
It was the big producer of the year, well ahead of 1908 (33,500) and 1908-S (59,850) and 1908-D (210,000) and 1908 (341,370). In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1910-S (811,000) and the 1926 (1,014,000).
Denver struck the Indian Head Eagle in 6 issues between 1908 and 1914. By mintage this one lands in the more common half, while the key for that mint is the 1911-D (30,100). No Indian Head Eagle of the 1900s had a bigger run.
Saint-Gaudens's eagle and the motto debate (1907 to 1908)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed the Indian Head eagle at Theodore Roosevelt's request. The first coins were struck in 1907. Early pieces with periods around the reverse legend come with a wire rim or a rolled rim and are rare. The regular 1907 issue, 239,406 struck, has no periods.
Roosevelt disliked religious mottoes on coins and the 1907 design omitted IN GOD WE TRUST. Congress ordered it restored on May 18, 1908. Later 1908 coins show the motto to the left of the eagle. The 1908 no motto from Philadelphia had 33,500 struck and the 1908-D no motto 210,000, while the with motto coins of that year are more common. The edge carries 46 raised stars instead of reeding, one for each state at the time.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1908
Congress ordered the motto "In God We Trust" restored to US gold coins in May 1908, so both the double eagle and the eagle come in "No Motto" and "With Motto" types this year.
How to recognize it
Augustus Saint-Gaudens' $10 gold piece shows Liberty in a feathered headdress inscribed LIBERTY, with 13 stars above and the date below. The reverse shows a standing eagle on a bundle of arrows with an olive branch. The edge has raised stars: 46 until 1911 and 48 from 1912. IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the reverse field in 1908. The mint mark is to the left of the arrows.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Indian Head Eagle (1907–1933) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1908 |
| Mint | Denver Mint |
| Mint mark | "D" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 836,500 |
| Face value | $10 |
| Composition | 90% gold, 10% copper |
| Weight | 16.718 grams |
| Diameter | 27 mm |
| Edge | Raised stars (46, then 48 from 1912) |
| Designer | Augustus Saint-Gaudens |
Other 1908 Indian Head Eagle issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 Indian Head Eagle (No Motto) | 33,500 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1908 Indian Head Eagle (With Motto) | 341,370 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1908-D Indian Head Eagle (No Motto) | 210,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1908-D Indian Head Eagle (With Motto) | 836,500 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1908-S Indian Head Eagle | 59,850 | Circulation strike | – |
Mintage: Indian Head eagle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.