The Indian Head gold pieces were two coin series struck by the United States Mint: a two-and-a-half dollar piece, or quarter eagle (1908–1915, 1925–1929), and a five-dollar coin, or half eagle (1908–1916, 1929). The only US coins with recessed (engraved) designs ever to enter circulation, they were the last of a long series of coins in those denominations. President Theodore Roosevelt vigorously advocated new coin designs, and had the Mint engage his friend, the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to design coins that could be changed without congressional authorization. The sculptor completed an eagle ($10 piece) and double eagle before his death in 1907. Roosevelt convinced Mint Director Frank Leach to reproduce the eagle's design on both of the smaller coins, but recessed below the background. The job fell to Boston sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt, and after some difficulty, the Mint was able to strike the coins, though Pratt was unhappy with modifications made by the Mint's engravers. The quarter eagle enjoyed popularity as a Christmas present, but neither coin circulated much.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Head_gold_pieces
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1502:
Isabella I issued an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_conversions_of_Muslims_in_Spain
1855:
Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the United States' first agricultural college. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_State_University
1946:
The British Royal Navy concluded Operation Deadlight, its operation to scuttle German U-boats that had been captured during World War II. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Deadlight
1988:
While claiming the right of innocent passage through Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea American cruiser USS Yorktown and destroyer USS Caron were bumped by Soviet warships (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Black_Sea_bumping_incident
1993:
Two-year-old James Bulger was led away from New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, England, and brutally murdered by two ten-year-old boys, who became the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Anthropocene: (geology) The current geological period, in which human activities have a powerful effect on the global environment. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Anthropocene
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." --Abraham Lincoln https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln