The Sacagawea dollar (also known as the 'golden dollar') is a United States dollar coin first minted in 2000, although not minted for general circulation between 2002 to 2008 and again from 2012 onward due to its general unpopularity with the public and low business demand for the coin. These coins have a copper core clad by manganese brass, giving them a distinctive golden color.
- Launched in 2000, the Sacagawea golden dollar coin was the first circulating US coin to feature an actual Native American, a woman and an infant. The obverse honors Sacagawea, the young Shoshone guide and interpreter who helped Lewis & Clark find a western route to the Pacific Ocean. The infant is her son, Jean Baptiste, born during the trek.
- There are a couple of special varieties that are collectible like the 2000-P Cheerios coin. However, your regular strike Sacagawea coins are still just worth $1 and will likely only be worth a dollar for the foreseeable future.
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The 2002 Sacagawea Dollar (Buy on eBay) was not issued for circulation. After the large number of coins produced during the first two years of the series and the failure of those coins to circulate widely, production was confined to the quantity necessary to satisfy demand from coin collectors. The coins were sold at a premium to face value or included within annual sets.
2000 Gold Colored Sacagawea Dollar Value
The United States Mint offered 2,000-coin bags or 25-coin rolls of the 2002 Sacagawea Dollars starting April 29. The coins were available from either the Philadelphia or Denver Mint and priced at $2,190.00 for each bag and $35.50 for each roll. The bags were mint sewn and carried a tag indicating the face value, year of issue, and mint mark. The rolls were wrapped in US Mint themed paper, which also denoted the date, mint mark, and face value of the coins.
The Sacagawea Dollars were included in two annual coin sets offered by the US Mint. The Philadelphia and Denver Mint circulation strike coins were included in the 2002 Mint Set. The proof version of the coin struck at San Francisco was included in the 2002 Proof Set and 2002 Silver Proof Set.
Sacagawea Dollar Value Circulated
2002 Sacagawea Dollar Mintages
2002-P: 3,865,610
2002-D: 3,732,000
2002-S Proof: 3,211,995
As part of the promotional activities leading up to the launch of the new series, the US Mint partnered with General Mills to include 5,500 of the new “Golden Dollars” in boxes of Cheerios cereal. It would later be discovered that the 2000 “Cheerios” Sacagawea Dollars (Buy on eBay) featured a prototype reverse design that was different from the final design used for full scale production.
1 Dollar Gold Coins Worth
The discovery was not made until 2005, when close examination of the coins revealed differences in the tail feathers of the eagle. As shown in the left side image above, there is a central line apparent and a greater level of detail in the feathers. The right side image shows the appearance of the regular 2000 Sacagawea Dollar. On coins produced for circulation, the central line is recessed and there is considerably less detail in the feathers. The modification was made prior to production for circulation in order to produce a more realistic rendering of the tail feathers. (Images are courtesy of NGC.)
Rare 2000 Sacagawea Dollar Coin
The 2000 “Cheerios” Sacagawea Dollar is considered to be a true pattern, and pieces are somewhat difficult to find. The total number distributed was 5,500 pieces, but a much smaller number is currently known to exist. Because the coins were distributed broadly to the public and the true rarity of the pieces was not discovered until years later, many of the coins were presumably spent into circulation or otherwise misplaced. In late 2008, one of the pattern dollars was actually discovered in circulation by someone searching rolls of small sized dollars. Other pieces may still be in the hands of the original recipients who have no idea of the true value of the coins.
One of the finest Cheerios Sacagawea Dollars graded PCGS MS68 was sold for $34,500 in mid-2008. Prices have seen declined a bit, but the rarity of the issue remains.