1911-D Indian Quarter Eagle. Strong D. MS-63 (PCGS). This Denver date is famous as the rarest of the entire Indian quarter eagle series, both in terms of the surviving population and even more so in terms of non-availability in the desirable highest grades. The present coin offers glowing olive-gold luster of unusually splendid visual quality that complements a meticulously detailed strike of exceptional precision. The D mintmark is clearly visible, perhaps in the upper 50% of definition of those we have seen. Only a couple of minor marks are seen that serve to limit the grade. Some of this dates rarity in modern times might be traceable to the sparsity of determined collectors of U.S. gold by date and mintmark through the 1950s. When gold coins sold for a few cents over face, there was little incentive to seek out specific dates and when such attention was paid to the Indian series, the supply of high grade coins had dwindled grievously. The obverse portrays Brule Lakota Chief Hollow Horn Bear, who had taken part in Theodore Roosevelts inaugural parade, March 4, 1905. The Chief died March 15, 1913, age 54, at Providence Hospital, according to the notice in the April 1913 Numismatist, which misidentified him as the model for the 1899 $5 Silver Certificates. His true identity as Boston sculptor Bela Lyon Pratts model for the 1908 quarter eagles and half eagles only came to light in 1988.
