1909 $2.50 Indian Head NGC PF66

In 1907, the Mint changed the way in which they produced gold proofs. Instead of the bright, brilliant finish of prior years, they sand-blasted the coins post strike. This led to a dark, matte finish which proved very unpopular. Due to the unpopularity of the matte finish, in 1909, the "Roman gold" process was instead used on proof gold coins. This produced a coin that was brighter and was a sort of mix between matte and brilliant proof. However, due to the fact that this was the second year of issue and also the unpopularity of the first year's finish, only 139 proofs were sold. This would prove to be the third lowest mintage of the series.