Native American & Sacagawea Golden Dollars

Authorized by the United States $1 Coin Act of 1997, the new Golden Dollar coin replaced the Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Dollar Coin in the year 2000.

In 2009, the United States Mint will mint and issue $1 coins featuring designs celebrating the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States. The obverse design remains the central figure of the "Sacagawea" design first produced in 2000, and contains the inscriptions LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. The reverse design changes each year to celebrate an important contribution of Indian tribes, or individual Native Americans, and contain the inscriptions $1 and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Like the Presidential $1 Coins, the Native American $1 Coins maintain their distinctive edge and golden color and feature edge-lettering of the year, mint mark and E PLURIBUS UNUM.

Sacagawea Dollar Coins

Complete Sacagawea Golden Dollar Set

Complete uncirculated Sacagawea dollar set including Proof issues.

Sacagawea or Sacajawea?

Various historians disagree over the pronunciation, meaning - either "Boat Launcher" or "Bird Woman", and spelling of her name - listed as either Sacagawea or Sacajawea, as well as a few other spellings, but all agree that her bravery and fortitude were instrumental to the success of Lewis & Clark's "Corps of Discovery."

We have decided to use the spelling "SACAGAWEA" for our new dollar coin, based on several contemporary works on this topic.

To quote from a recent publication:

"Translated, her name means 'Bird Woman,' and in their attempts to spell the Indians words, Lewis and Clark used variations of 'Sah-ca-gah-we-ah' and 'Sah-kah-gar-we-a.' (In 1814, when a version of the journals appeared, an editor changed the spelling to Sacajawea, which was the preferred spelling until recently, when most historians and official publications reverted back to Sacagawea.)

Lewis & Clark. The Journey of the Corps of Discovery. An Illustrated History by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. Page 92.

Additional references to the Sacagawea spelling can be found in Stephen E. Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage (Simon & Schuster, 1996) and on PBS's Web site for its critically acclaimed series on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

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