Before his death in August 1907, Saint-Gaudens completed designs for the eagle ($10 piece) and double eagle, although both required subsequent work to make them fully suitable for coining.

President Theodore Roosevelt, from 1904, vigorously advocated new designs for United States coins, and had the Mint engage his friend, the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to design five coins (the four gold pieces and the cent) that could be changed without congressional authorization. These coins were the last of their denominations to be struck for circulation, ending series that began in the 1790s. The pieces remain the only US circulating coins with recessed designs. The half eagle was struck from 1908 to 1916, and in 1929. The quarter eagle was struck from 1908 to 1915 and from 1925–1929.

The Indian Head gold pieces or Pratt-Bigelow gold coins were two separate coin series, identical in design, struck by the United States Mint: a two-and-a-half-dollar piece, or quarter eagle, and a five-dollar coin, or half eagle.