| The Indian Head quarter
eagle and its larger companion, the half eagle, stand out from all the
rest of United States coinage because their designs and lettering are
sunken in a plane that is uniformly flat. The highest points of relief are
level with the coins' fields, and they have no raised rims to protect them
from wear. In fact, the only element of these coins to exceed the level of
their fields are their mintmarks, if any. The obverse depicts a
realistic-looking Indian brave in a war bonnet, with the date, thirteen
stars and the motto LIBERTY forming a circle around this central device.
The reverse shows an eagle in repose, perched upon fasces and an olive
branch, the intertwined symbols of preparedness and peace. Through
judicious sizing and placement, Pratt succeeded in incorporating four
different inscriptions on this side, (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS
UNUM, IN GOD WE TRUST and the statement of value) without causing the coin
to seem unbalanced, cluttered or cramped. |
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