Sacagawea dollar

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The Sacagawea dollar is the current United States dollar coin. This coin was first minted in 2000 and depicts the Shoshone woman Sacagawea, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, carrying her son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Artist Glenna Goodacre used a 22-year-old Shoshone woman named Randy'L He-dow Teton as the model for the young Sacagawea.^[1] The reverse side was designed by Thomas D. Rogers.

Originally, since there was no known portrait of Sacagawea, the committee that chose Sacagawea for the coin specified the figure as Liberty depicted as a Native American woman inspired by Sacagawea. This also helped sell the coin to committee members that preferred the traditional Liberty of older U.S. coins, especially since the Indian Head cent had also depicted Liberty as a Native American. However, the "Liberty" part of the concept faded during the design competition, as the most suitable designs (including Goodacre's winning design) focused on the story of Sacagawea.

Contents 1 History 2 Future 3 Truly "Golden" dollars 4 Specifications 5 Mints 6 See also 7 References 7.1 Notes 8 External links

[edit] History

Sacagawea dollars began being minted in 2000 in accordance with the United States $1 Coin Act of 1997. These coins were made to replace the unpopular Susan B. Anthony dollar coins which were often confused with Quarters because of their similar size, similar ridged edge, and identical color. To remedy this problem, Sacagawea dollars were given a smooth outside edge (similar to the Nickel) and distinctive gold color which makes it the only gold-colored coin in the United States that is currently circulating. Despite a major promotional blitz by the United States government, these coins failed to gain popularity with the general public, and mintages of the coins declined sharply after the first year, just as mintages of the Susan B. Anthony dollar had done 21 years earlier. Although they were released for general circulation only in 2000 and 2001, Sacagawea dollars are still being minted on a small scale for collectors and are available in uncirculated coin rolls, Mint Sets, Proof Sets, and Special Westward Journey Sets from the United States Mint. The coins are widely available in New York City, where the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the state agency that runs the New York City Transit System subways and busses, uses the coin in their machines for change up to six dollars.

Save the Greenback, an organization of Bureau of Engraving and Printing employees and paper and ink suppliers, lobbied against replacing the paper dollar with the dollar coin.^[2] Congress responded by including in the $1 Coin Act (Public Law 105-124) a provision that:

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to evidence any intention to eliminate or to limit the printing or circulation of United States currency in the $1 denomination.^[3]

Nonetheless, nothing in that section (or in any other law) prohibits the Federal Reserve System from phasing out the paper dollar in the future.

In 2000, the General Accounting Office estimated that "the $1 coin's advantage would be $522.2 million per year, once fully implemented".^[4] The GAO noted that in order for a dollar coin to be successful, the $1 note would have to be eliminated; a reasonable transition period would be needed; the $1 coin would have to be well designed and readily distinguishable from other coins; an adequate public awareness campaign would be needed; and sustained administrative and congressional support would be necessary to withstand an initial negative public reaction to eliminating the $1 note.

James C. Benfield, executive director of the Coin Coalition, commented on the reasons for why the Sacagawea dollar never became widely circulated. He denied that it was due to the public hoarding the coins, noting that the public also collects large quantities of Statehood Quarters, yet Statehood Quarters remain in wide circulation. Benfield claimed that banks could not be faulted, since few people get coins from the bank, except for rolls of quarters to feed parking meters or coin-operated laundry machines. Moreover, he denied that it was due to public rejection of the Sacagawea, explaining, "The key players in the circulation of any denomination are the store managers of chain restaurants, drugstores, grocery stores and convenience stores. All coins, and $1 and $5 bills, begin circulating in the economy from the cash drawers of these establishments. If the store manager doesn't stock $1 coins in the morning, then you won't get them as change in the afternoon."

Benfield also pinned down the root cause of the Sacagawea's failure: "The chief stumbling-block to the success of the 'golden dollar' is the continued presence of the $1 bill. The lesson demonstrated by our SBA experience, and learned by all countries that have introduced a high-denomination coin since 1979, is that the equivalent note must be removed from circulation. The only country not to learn that lesson is the United States."

Some have taken to calling the Sacagawea dollar a Squawbuck, a play on words referencing the slang term sawbuck for a ten-dollar bill.

[edit] Future

Though the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 authorized a new dollar coin program featuring the Presidents of the United States, it also assures for now the future of the Sacagawea dollar. At least 1/3 of the dollar coins issued in each year of the program must be Sacagawea dollars; furthermore, the Sacagawea design is required to continue after the program ends. These requirements were added at the behest of the North Dakota congressional delegation to ensure that Sacagawea, whom North Dakotans consider to be one of their own, ultimately remains on the dollar coin.

Federal Reserve officials have indicated to Congress that "if the Presidential $1 Coin Program does not stimulate substantial transactional demand for dollar coins, the requirement that the Mint nonetheless produce Sacagawea dollars would result in costs to the taxpayer without any offsetting benefits." In that event, the Federal Reserve indicates that it would "strongly recommend that Congress reassess the one-third requirement."^[5] Conversely, however, if the presidential coin program and other provisions of the Presidential $1 Coin Act (such as the requirement that Federal agencies and other entities under Federal jurisdiction accept dollar coins by 2008) do generate demand for dollar coins in circulation, the one-third requirement would likely lead to improved circulation for the Sacagawea dollar as well.

[edit] Truly "Golden" dollars

In 2001, Coin World reported that via a FOIA document request, the Mint had struck 39 examples of the 2000 Sacagawea dollar in gold in June 1999 at the West Point Mint. The planchets came from specially prepared ¹⁄₂ oz. $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Planchets. Why they were struck is not known; speculation is that this was an attempt by the mint to offer "Premium" collectibles in conjunction with the newly released Sacagawea dollar in 2000.

Twenty-seven were soon melted and the remaining 12 were sent on the Space Shuttle Columbia in July of 1999. Two examples then popped up at two separate events; one during a Private Congressional Dinner in August 1999, and another example at the Official First-Strike ceremonies in November. The coins remained at Mint Headquarters under lock and key until they were transferred in 2001 to Fort Knox, where they are rumored to reside to this day. The strikes are considered to be illegal due to the Coinage regulations in place.

The dies for the Gold Proofs were prepared with Thomas D. Rogers, Sr.'s original reverse design featuring 12 tail feathers. Circulation strikes from other mints have 13 tail feathers. Two thousand Sacagawea dollar coins placed in cereal boxes to help promote the coins have been discovered recently to have the "Gold dollar" reverse instead of the normal business strike design.

[edit] Specifications

• Obverse design: Sacagawea with her baby
• Reverse design: A bald eagle in flight surrounded by 17 stars (for the number of states in the Union in 1804 at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition).
• Edge: plain
• Weight: 8.1 g
• Diameter: 26.5 mm
• Composition: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, 2% Nickel

[edit] Mints

Mintmarks appear underneath the date on the obverse. Mintmarks include:

• P (Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• D (Denver Mint in Denver, Colorado)
• S (San Francisco Mint in San Francisco, California)

San Francisco coins are available only in proof sets.

[edit] See also

• United States dollar
• Gold coin
• Numismatic terminology
• Randy'L He-dow Teton

[edit] References

• Edler, Joel and Harper, Dave U.S. Coin Digest Iola: Krause Publications, 2004
• Yeoman, R.S. A Guide Book of United States Coins Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2004.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Sacagawea Dollar pictures
• United States Small Size Dollar Coins, 1979-Present
• United States Mint, Golden Dollar program

Preceded by Susan B. Anthony Dollar

Dollar Coin of the United States 2000–present

Succeeded by Presidential Dollar Coin Program (concurrently, 2007-c. 2016)

v • d • e United States currency and coinage
Topics	Federal Reserve System · Federal Reserve Note · U.S. dollar · U.S. Mint
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See also	Commemoratives · Confederate dollar · Fake denominations