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
Kyle Blanks .150 in his first 40 at-bats, but finished with 10 homers with a .287 average. His season ended on August 28 with a case of plantar fasciitis. During the offseason, the Padres traded away third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff in order to move Chase Headley to the infield to open a position for Blanks in left field. Blanks began the 2010 season as the Padres cleanup hitter behind Adrian Gonzalez. Blanks' season ended in May with an elbow that required reconstructive surgery. He finished batting only .157 with three homers, 15 RBI and an alarming 46 strikeouts in 102 at-bats. After