The 1912-S is a true condition rarity in the Indian Head Eagle series. Nearly every known piece is very poorly struck with a considerable lack of detail, even less than the 1911-S and 1913-S.

Due to this particularly weak strike and lack of detail, the 1912-S Indian Head Eagle is very difficult to find in MS64 and higher grades. At the MS66 level the coin is exceptionally rare, with NGC reporting as of March 2010 that just two have been graded that high with none higher. PCGS reports just a single MS66 graded, also with none seen higher.

1912-S Coin Rarity and Strike Quality: A Comprehensive Overview

In terms of overall rarity the 1912-S ranks near the middle of the series with a relatively high mintage for a San Francisco Mint issue with 300,000 struck. The date sees an even mixture between circulated grades and Uncirculated grades, with the Uncirculated grades up to near Gem quality only slightly harder to locate. The highest concentration of Uncirculated specimens lie at the MS62 level and probably fewer than 100 examples are known in properly graded MS63 or better.

The strike on the 1912-S is below average and a significant lack of detail is seen in the hair around the face, with special concentration at the RTY in LIBERTY. A significant loss of detail can also often be seen on the eagle’s shoulder on the reverse.