1915-S Indian Head Eagle
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 59,000 made
- Mintage
- 59,000
- 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 1915-S Indian Head Eagle worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1915-S sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
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 1915-S Indian Head Eagle rare?
- Yes. Only 59,000 were made, 5th lowest of the 31 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1915-S Indian Head Eagle real gold?
- No, it's gold: 0.4837 troy ounces of pure gold.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1915 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 S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1915 are scarcer?
- The 1911-S at 51,000. So the 1915-S is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1915-S Indian Head Eagle coins were made?
- 59,000.
What to check on your 1915-S
- Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1915 (351,000 made).
- Count the stars on the edge. From 1912 the edge carries 48 raised stars, after New Mexico and Arizona joined the Union. Counterfeiters have sometimes got the count or the spacing wrong.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- 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 1915-S weighs 16.718 g and measures 27 mm. Buy certified examples from a reputable dealer. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the mint mark and date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1915-S
Production at San Francisco fell off a cliff in 1915. Only 59,000 were made, against 208,000 the year before. That drop is why the 1915-S is the one people look for. The next year it made 138,500 (1916-S).
The other mint made far more that year: 1915 alone came to 351,000, roughly 5.9 for every 1915-S. If you're checking a pile of 1915 coins, the S is the one to look for. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1908-S (59,850) and the 1913-S (66,000).
Only the 1911-S has a lower mintage among San Francisco's 11 Indian Head Eagles. Within the 1910s it's 3rd smallest of 16, between the 1911-S (51,000) and the 1913-S (66,000).
More on the 1915-S
San Francisco's 59,000 eagles of 1915 were struck in the year the city hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The San Francisco Mint also produced special commemorative gold coins for that event, so the branch was unusually busy with gold even as its eagle total fell from 208,000 the year before. Philadelphia struck nearly six times as many that year.
The 1915-S is one of the scarcer dates in the series. Well made uncirculated examples are especially hard to find, since many show weak strikes or heavy marks. Even worn coins carry a collector premium well above their gold value. Check the S to the left of the arrowheads carefully: a 1915 from Philadelphia, at 351,000, is far more common, so an added mint mark is a real concern. Buy a 1915-S already certified if you can. If you've found one, have it authenticated before you treat it as a prize. A full strike on the headdress feathers and the eagle's wing is uncommon on this date, so it adds real appeal.
Steady issues and the 1911-D key (1909 to 1916)
With the motto in place, eagles were struck in most years at Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco. The 1911-D, only 30,100, is the key of the period. The 1911-S, 1913-S and 1915-S are scarce, especially well struck. Denver struck 2,356,640 in 1910, the largest branch mint total of these years.
In 1912 two more stars were added to the edge for New Mexico and Arizona, raising the count from 46 to 48. Mint marks sit on the reverse to the left of the arrowheads. Large gold coins like these picked up bag marks easily, so the cheek and the field in front of the face are the places to check. The 1916-S closed the period before World War I halted production.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1915
San Francisco hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, for which the Mint struck commemorative coins including $50 gold pieces.
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 | 1915 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 59,000 |
| 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 1915 Indian Head Eagle issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 Indian Head Eagle | 351,000 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1915-S Indian Head Eagle | 59,000 | 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.