Beginning in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed new, more artistic designs on US coins, prompting the Mint to hire Saint-Gaudens to create them.

The omission of the motto "In God We Trust" on the new coins caused public outrage, and prompted Congress to pass a bill mandating its inclusion.

The Indian Head eagle was struck regularly until 1916, and then intermittently until President Franklin Roosevelt directed the Mint to stop producing gold coins in 1933.

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote to Secretary of the Treasury Leslie Mortier Shaw complaining that U.S. coinage lacked artistic merit.

[son of a bitch] but I had a talk with the President who ordered Secretary Shaw in my presence to cut Barber's head off if he didn't do our bidding".

The double eagles were then being delayed because Saint-Gaudens had twice sent the Mint models with too high a relief that could not be struck in one blow, as required for circulating coinage.

This time the sculptor responded, writing that he had been awaiting the return of his assistant Henry Hering, who had handled much of the dealings with the Mint.

Barber used these models to prepare a die, along with a bronze casting which was produced privately, and the Mint struck experimental pieces on July 19.

Saint-Gaudens wrote to the Mint in mid-July, "I am waiting to know about this in order to proceed with the other reliefs", and he was sent one of the new pieces, along with a Liberty Head eagle for comparison.

[14] On July 19, Roberts sent a similar pair of coins to Secretary of the Treasury George Cortelyou, noting that Saint-Gaudens used a smooth finish to the design rather than the sharp die work characteristic of the Liberty gold pieces, and he suggested that this might encourage counterfeiting.

[15] Saint-Gaudens died there of cancer on August 3, 1907, and Roosevelt wrote to his widow Augusta, "I count it as one of the privileges of my administration to have had him make two of our coins".

"[19] In response to the President's instructions, Barber wrote to Norris informing him that the design for the eagle had been awaiting approval since July, making no mention of the Mint's desire for sharper die work.

Norris noted in his subsequent letter to Acting Director Preston that the Mint had been having trouble with the collar, which would strike the edge of the coin and impress 46 stars, representing the number of states there would be after Oklahoma's already scheduled admission to the Union later in 1907.

Homer Saint-Gaudens, the sculptor's son, wrote to Preston, "Mr. Hering has finally finished the eagle at a relief slightly lower than that on the French [gold] coin by Chaplin, [sic, actually Chaplain] which is the lowest relief that Mr. Hering knew my father would abide by, and which I understand Mr. Barber can mint.

Preston sent a note to Norris, warning that the President would likely order 100 pieces and suggesting that he have the coins available "so you can furnish them without a moment's delay".

[23] According to numismatic historian Roger Burdette, "these were an 'insurance policy', put in place by Cortelyou against additional presidential rage".

[29] On November 9, 1907, with the dies made from the low relief Saint-Gaudens models in full production, Frank Leach, the new Mint director, decided to have 31,950 of the rounded rim specimens melted, saving only fifty.

[31] The surviving rounded rim specimens can be readily distinguished from later 1907 strikes, as they have dots before, between, and after the words "Ten Dollars" on the reverse.

[32]Saint-Gaudens based his head of Liberty on a model that he had sculpted but not used for the statue of Victory in the William Tecumseh Sherman Monument in New York City, still believing that the design would be considered for the cent.

The bust of Harriet Eugenia Anderson also inspired Saint-Gaudens in his model and bas-relief ΝΙΚΗ ΕΙΡΗΝΗ (Greek for victory and peace).

[35] His ultimate inspiration for the reverse, by one account, was a coin of Ptolemy I of Egypt portraying a standing eagle which was illustrated in a book that he owned and had lent to Roosevelt.

[37] They point to the unlikeliness of any female wearing a head-dress only donned by a male warrior, and they describe the word "LIBERTY" on the headdress as "placed incongruously".

[37] The new eagles entered circulation around November 4, 1907, although Leach did not receive formal approval to issue the pieces until December 19.

[38] As early as November 7, articles were appearing in newspapers noting the omission of the motto "In God We Trust" on the eagle, and the Mint soon began to receive many complaints.

According to his son Homer, as Saint-Gaudens considered "the motto 'In God We Trust' as an artistic intrusion not required by law, he wholly discarded [it] and thereby drew down on himself the lightning of public comment".