Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens As is the case with most ultramodern issues, the value of the 2009-D Native American Dollar is too low to justify
By 2002, the Treasury Department realized that, despite a promising launch and a pleasing modern appearance, the Sacagawea Dollar had failed to deliver on its hopes of widespread adoption by the American public. Instead, more than 200 million coins of the cursed denomination sat unused in massive bags in government vaults. While the Sac Dollar suffered the same fate as the Susan B. Anthony and Eisenhower Dollar series that preceded it, different factors contributed to its failure.
The Ike Dollar suffered, in part, due to the coin’s large size. Although the copper-nickel-clad version was the only one released into circulation, the coin’s size was based on the silver dollar. Resurrecting the dormant dollar coin but not addressing the coin’s cumbersome size and weight proved limiting. Some accounts suggest that the coin saw some usage in the sparsely-populated western states and casinos, but wear patterns on Philadelphia Mint issues suggest to us that the coin saw heavier circulation than most realize, especially the 1971 and 1972 issues and the 1975-1976 Bicentennial coins. Even if the coin was seen as little more than a novelty, its large size made it ideal for the manufacturing novelty belt buckles.
By the time the Bicentennial Dollars came around, Congress and the Treasury were already contemplating the introduction of a new dollar coin, this one smaller and easier to handle in quantity. The goal of the proponents of the small dollar coin was to see daily use in vending machines; in fact, the vending industry strongly advocated for the coin in Congressional hearings in 1978. When the Susan B. Anthony Dollar was released in 1979, it was the subject of almost immediate scorn and ridicule. The promised refitting of vending machines did not happen on a large scale, and the coin was killed off at the end of the first year of the Reagan Administration.
More so than size or public scorn, the true reason behind the failure of these late 20th-century attempts to reintroduce the dollar coin was the fact that such a piece would always be overshadowed by the one-dollar Federal Reserve Note. If in the age of silver and gold coins, people still frequently used banknotes and currency, it only stands to reason that the same would hold true in an era of fiat coinage.
Congress and dollar coin proponents ignored this truth and instead blamed the SBA Dollar’s failure on its conception and design. The Susan B. Anthony, while slightly larger and thicker than a quarter, is more similar to that denomination than any other coin is to any other denomination. For the Sacagawea Dollar, Congress hoped that changing the composition and other design characteristics would make the coin more easily distinguishable. The United States Mint even promoted the new coin with a $67 million marketing campaign. This effort led to $968 million in seignorage for the Mint, but the coin did not see widespread use after its launch.
Rebooting the Sacagawea Dollar
Dollar coin proponents were not done. Knowing that $1 in 2000 had the same purchasing power as 40¢ in 1979, the dollar coin was seen by some as less wasteful than the dollar bill. In 2007, Congress once again enacted legislation to reintroduce the coin, this time with a circulating commemorative program to honor America’s Presidents. This terrible idea played out year after year, with the Mint honoring America’s most incompetent Chief Executives alongside household names. What school kid wouldn’t be wowed by the opportunity of holding the history of Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, or Warren G. Harding in their hands?
The Presidential $1 Coin Act did not end the production of the Sacagawea Dollar, however. Instead, it carved out 20% of annual dollar-coin production for that design. On September 20, 2007, President George W. Bush enacted Public Law 110–82 (PDF link), the Native American $1 Coin Act, which updated the Sacagawea Dollar by authorizing a new annual refresh of the reverse to honor the many contributions of Native Americans to American life. On the Native American Dollar, sculptor Glenna Goodacre’s obverse design remained but the date and mintmark were moved to the rim. From this point on, the Sacagawea Dollar is officially known as the “Native American Dollar”.
The first reverse design in the program honors the Three Sisters of Native American agriculture: the planting of maize (corn), beans, and squash in close proximity for mutual benefit. The cornstalks provide a structure for the bean tendrils to climb, and the broad leaves of the squash plants trap moisture at the base and help prevent weeds from crowding out the crops. The beans also fix nitrogen in the soil, providing nutrients for all. This method of planting increases crop yields by about 30% and probably dates to the domestication of
