Sacagawea Dollar Guide

The Sacagawea Dollar, also called the "Golden Dollar", was introduced in 2000 as the new circulating dollar coin of the United States. Mintages were extremely large for the first few years of production, before rapidly decreasing afterward to the point that pieces were only minted for numismatic purposes and not for general circulation. Despite the lack of success in circulation, the Sacagawea Dollar represents a unique series, appreciated by many collectors.

The coins were authorized under the "United States Dollar Coin Act of 1997" which was signed into law by President Clinton on December 1, 1997. The visual appearance of the coins was included within the legislation as follows: “The dollar coin shall be golden in color, have a distinctive edge, have tactile and visual features that make the denomination of the coin readily discernible, be minted and fabricated in the United States.”

The obverse of the Sacagawea Dollar was designed by Glenna Goodacre. It features a portrait of Sacagawea, the Shoshone born Native American who accompanied Lewis & Clark on their expedition from 1804 to 1806. While contemporary paintings exist from many members of the expedition, none were either made or saved of Sacagawea. To create an image that closely resembled Sacagawea, Goodacre portrayed Randy’L He-Dow Teton when she was 22, only six years older than Sacagawea at the time of the expedition. Sacagawea's newborn son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, is shown on her back. The word LIBERTY is above, with IN GOD WE TRUST in the left field and the date and mintmark in the right field.

The reverse of the coin features an eagle in flight, and was designed by Thomas D. Rogers Sr. Seventeen stars appear around the eagle, each representing a state at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Above the eagle's head is the motto IN GOD WE TRUST, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above and ONE DOLLAR below.

After huge mintages in 1999 and 2000 (all dated 2000) the Sacagawea Dollar failed to circulate as well, despite a huge promotion program by the United States Mint. Ironically, the Sacagawea dollar now shares many stories with the unpopular Susan B. Anthony dollars, despite the design and composition changes made specifically to address the previous dollars shortcomings. After a few years of declining mintages, the coins were only produced for inclusion in annual US Mint issued collector sets, or bags and rolls of coins sold directly to collectors at a premium.

Starting with 2009, the Sacagawea Dollar underwent design changes and was renamed the Native American Dollar. The obverse of the coin had the date and mint mark removed and placed on the edge of the coin with incuse lettering. The reverse of the coin began to feature annually rotating designs commemorating contributions of Native Americans. The reverse design for 2009 featured the Three Sisters method of planting. Coins were once again minted for circulation with the legislative stipulation that 20% of all dollar coins produced by the United States Mint must be Native American Dollars.