1912-S Indian Head Half Eagle

Key date

A San Francisco issue from the years when the half eagle still moved in ordinary commerce, before production stopped in 1916.

Mintage

Business strikes: 392,000
Mint: San Francisco (S)
Mintage rank: 12 of 24

Rank 1 is the lowest business-strike mintage in the series. Mintage is what the Mint produced, not what survives. Gold coin was recalled in 1933 under Executive Order 6102 and the Treasury melted much of what it held, so survival across this series runs well below the figures below. The 1929 is the extreme case: a six-figure mintage and a genuine rarity.

Reading the figure

Among the 9 San Francisco issues in the series it is the 6th smallest. Of the 1,182,000 struck across all mints in 1912, this issue accounts for 33%. Philadelphia struck 2 times as many that year. The 1912 split ran Philadelphia 790,000 and San Francisco 392,000. Series-wide output fell that year: 1,182,000 against 2,403,500 in 1911. In 1912 the coin was struck at Philadelphia and San Francisco; Denver and New Orleans struck none.

Every sentence above is computed from the mintage table on this page, not asserted separately.

Scarcity tier

Key date

Assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 is a key date, under 2,500,000 is a semi-key.

This is a reproducible label derived from the mintage column, not a market valuation and not a Coin Curator price opinion. The same thresholds apply to every series on this site. Several dates are far harder or far easier to obtain than their mintage implies; where that is true, it is stated above.

Grading an incuse design is not like grading any other. The devices on this coin are sunk into the surface rather than raised above it, which is unique to the Indian Head quarter eagle and half eagle among regular United States coins. Read the full note on the series page.

What to check before buying

Nothing about this date calls for a check beyond the ones that apply to any certified coin.

And for any certified coin

Verify the certification number on the grading service’s own lookup rather than from a photograph of the label, match the listing images to the certification record including grade and any variety attribution, look for cleaning, compare the mintmark against published photographs of the genuine issue, and read the return policy before buying. The grading guide covers each of these in full.

Coin Curator does not grade, authenticate, or appraise coins, and publishes no price or population data. These are verification steps, not a valuation.

Verify a certification number

Look a 1912-Scertification number up on the service’s own site. A photograph of a label proves nothing.

PCGS cert lookup NGC cert lookup ANACS cert lookup

Each service publishes its own guarantee with conditions and exclusions. Compare PCGS, NGC and ANACS.

Find a 1912-S for sale

Opens an eBay search for this exact date and mint. Coin Curator does not list inventory, hold stock, or quote prices; verify each listing, seller, and return policy directly.

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Common questions

How many 1912-S Indian Head half eagles were minted?

The San Francisco Mint struck 392,000 1912-S Indian Head half eagles for circulation. That is the 12th lowest business-strike mintage of the 24 date and mintmark combinations in the series.

Is the 1912-S Indian Head half eagle a key date?

Coin Curator labels it a key date, assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 struck is a key date and under 2,500,000 is a semi-key. The same thresholds are used for every series on this site, so the tiers are comparable between them. That label describes production, not market value or how hard the coin is to find today. A San Francisco issue from the years when the half eagle still moved in ordinary commerce, before production stopped in 1916.

What should I check before buying a 1912-S Indian Head half eagle?

Verify the certification number on the grading service's own lookup page, match the listing photographs to the certification record, check for cleaning, and compare the mintmark shape and position against published photographs of the genuine issue.

Guides for this coin

All guides →

Market Context

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