Sacagawea Dollars
Coin Series
Sacagawea Dollars were launched by the United States Mint in the year 2000 as a new circulating "golden dollar" coin. The obverse of the coin featured the Shoshone woman name Sacagawea who had accompanied Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. The reverse featured a soaring eagle surrounded by thirteen stars. The first coins were released by the United States Mint amidst a major promotional campaign that included print and television ads.
The Sacagawea Dollar featured a golden color, which would clearly differentiate it from other coins. The unique color was accomplished by using an outer layer of manganese brass composed of 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese, and 4% nickel boned to a core of pure copper. The new coins also featured a plain edge. These two aspects would help differentiate the coins from other denominations such as the quarter, a common complaint for the Susan B. Anthony Dollars.
Coins were struck in rather large quantities for circulation during 2000 and 2001. After meaningful circulation failed to take place, the number of coins minted was reduced to only the amount needed to satisfy coin collectors. The US Mint issued the coins at a premium within mint sealed bags and pacakged rolls from 2002 until 2008. Resulting mintages were in the low millions, but since all coins went into the hands of collectors, these issues are still readily attainable.
Rarities of the series included several special issues that were created during the inaugural year of the series. To promote the new coins, the US Mint provided 5,500 examples of the new coins to be randomly placed into boxes of Cheerios. Unknown at the time, these coins featured a different reverse design than later coins struck for circulation. Finally identified as pattern coins in 2005, the Cheerios Sacagawea Dollar became recognized as numiamtically significant rarities.
Separately, the US Mint had paid the obverse designer Glenna Goodacre her $5,000 design fee entirely in Sacagawea Dollars. These were found to be burnished and specially treated, inadvertantly creating another small group of collectibles.
The final year of the Sacagawea Dollar series with its original design was 2008. The following year, the series was replaced with the Native American Dollar series. This series featured the original obverse design paired with an annually rotating reverse design featuring contributions from Native Americans. The new design also featured edge lettering.
Coin Specifications
Dates: 2009 - ongoing
Mint: Philadelphia and Denver (circulating coins), San Francisco (proof coins)
Weight: 8.1 g
Composition: 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, 2% nickel
Diameter: 26.5 mm
Thickness: 2.0 mm
More Information: Sacagawea Dollar Mintage
