Indian Head gold pieces was modified by Barber, was "worthy of J.J. Audubon". Dies for the half eagle were sent to the mints in Denver and San Francisco; both western mints reported difficulties in striking the new pieces. Landis wrote to his counterparts at the other mints, advising them that the planchets, or blanks, needed to be shaved very slightly to strike properly. The new coins proved to be thinner than earlier coins of their denomination, due to the field being raised above the design. This meant that automated sorting machines could not reliably sort them when mixed with earlier coins. The new gold
Ernests Blanks was born on in Braslava municipality in Valmiera County, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. His parents were leaseholders until the family moved to Riga where he attended school. Starting 1914 he studied history and philosophy at the Shanyavskiy University in Moscow as an unenrolled, external student. He was one of the leaders of the Latvian National Democratic Party (LNDP). In Latvia Ernests Blanks was editor of numerous newspapers and journals, and published papers in even more. Ernests Blanks was honoured with the Three-Star Order (of the 4th class) of Latvia in 1928. In 1945 Ernests Blanks fled in exile to