1916 Fairmont Collection Coins

The Preparedness Movement gained momentum in 1916 as advocates, including former President Theodore Roosevelt, called for the strengthening of the U.S. military in anticipation of possible involvement in World War I. This movement helped prepare the nation for its eventual entry into the war in 1917. Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa led a raid into the U.S. town of Columbus, New Mexico, in March 1916. The attack resulted in several casualties and prompted a U.S. military expedition into Mexico in pursuit of Villa. With war on the horizon, American gold coins were issued in small numbers in 1916 as the global economy suffered the impacts of World War I in Europe.

1916 Fairmont Indian Head Half Eagles

The 1916 issue of US Eagles would be one of the last for several years across all denominations. The Indian Head Half Eagle suffered a greater stoppage in production as a result of World War I. The 1916 issue included coins struck only at the San Francisco Mint, with 240,000 coins produced and released.

$5 Indian Head Half Eagles would not be issued again until 1929, with the Philadelphia Mint handling the final production of the coins before the 1933 halt in gold coining in the United States.