Sacagawea Dollar - Production and Release

Production and Release

After her obverse design was approved, Goodacre visited the Philadelphia Mint engraving department six times in order to finalize the designs. Rogers' reverse design was also modified before production began. In his original proposal, mountainous scenery was depicted beneath the flying eagle; this was removed and the positions of other reverse design features were altered before Rubin gave final approval. The composition selected for the new coin included a cladding of manganese bronze (containing about 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese, and 4% nickel) over a pure copper core. This composition was chosen because it would give the coin a distinctive golden color while being electromagnetically identical to its predecessor, the copper-nickel Susan B. Anthony dollar. The first official striking of the Sacagawea dollar took place on November 18, 1999, during a ceremony in which dignitaries and other invited guests each struck individual examples of the coins. Because the coins were struck before 2000, it was not legal to release them during the first strike ceremonies. Instead, the coins were saved and later sent to the dignitaries who struck them. Full-scale production began shortly after the ceremonial strikings.

For her work creating the obverse of the Sacagawea dollar, Goodacre received a $5,000 commission; she requested that it be paid in dollar coins. The coins paid to Goodacre were struck on specially burnished blanks to give them a finish unique to that striking. Diehl and other Mint dignitaries personally delivered the coins to Goodacre on April 5, 2000.

Soon after release of the new coins, it was discovered that they tarnished quickly once in circulation. In April 2001 the Mint began testing an experimental rinse that would inhibit the tarnishing; however, the rinse was used only in that year.