Looking Back On The Sacagawea Dollar 20 Years Later

PCGS - Where have the last two decades years gone? It's hard to believe that 20 years ago the United States Mint was releasing the long-awaited Sacagawea dollar. Hailed by the U.S. Mint and many in the numismatic world as a pioneering coin, the Sacagawea dollar was long-anticipated by the public. It was the first time in a generation that a new small-size dollar coin had been issued for circulation, coming some two decades after the unsuccessful and very short run of the Susan B. Anthony dollar from 1979 through 1981. The U.S. Mint struck a batch of "Susie Bs" in 1999 to mitigate an increasing shortage of dollar coins, as the formerly unpopular Susan B. Anthony dollar had proven quite useful in vending machines and transit system networks. But the new Sacagawea dollar was supposed to right all the numismatic "wrongs" the Susan B. Anthony dollar had suffered.

The "golden dollar," as the public often calls the coin, is in so many respects quite different from its disco-era predecessor. This new dollar wowed many with its stunning three-quarter profile design of Sacagawea, the first Native American woman to grace the obverse of a circulating United States dollar coin. The coin was designed by Glenna Goodacre, whose artwork was chosen in a national competition and features a portrait of the Shoshone woman Sacagawea carrying her infant son, Jean-Baptiste (or "Pomp"). The reverse shows an eagle in flight and is designed by Mint engraver Thomas D. Rogers Sr.



However, the breakthroughs with the Sacagawea dollar didn't stop at its fresh design. The coin was unlike anything the U.S. Mint had produced for circulation at the time, with its distinctive rim, plain edge, and distinctive golden color - the latter resulting from a clad composition consisting of a copper core and an outer layer of manganese brass. The new golden dollar coin was heavily marketed by the Mint in a series or print, radio, and television advertisements, as well as Mint partnerships with Walmart and General Mills, the makers of popular breakfast cereal Cheerios.

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