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Sacagawea was a Native American woman who lived during the early 19th century. She was the wife of a French trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau. Charbonneau was chosen to aid the Lewis and Clark expedition solely because his wife spoke the language of the tribe they planned to encounter on their journey. It is for acting as a translator on this most famous exploratory journey in the history of America that she is most known.
In 2000, this brave woman was immortalized on an American gold dollar. The dollars were created with the hope of eventually replacing the paper dollar bill; this, however, has not happened. Therefore, the Sacagawea coins did not reach the goals for their circulation, and they were last minted in 2003. Congress recently approved a new edition of the coin which is scheduled to being minting in 2009.
There are currently only about one billion of Sacagawea dollar coins in circulation today. The US reserve has approximately 250 million in reserve. They are used by the United States Postal service to dispense change at stamp machines. They are also used by gambling casinos in their slot machines, and by subway and bus systems.
Some coin dealers now carry genuine Sacagawea dollar coins that bear “edge lettering” with unusual phrases like “Darwin Rules” and “In God We Lust”. Though coin dealers admit that the edge lettering was not applied at the US Mint when the coins were made, people who trade dollar coins as a hobby are often interested in these unique spoof coins.
Some people are so interested in the Sacagawea coin that they’ve created message boards and blogs to discuss it. Some of the message boards contain comments expressing dismay that vending machines are not planning to accept these coins. These Sacagawea coin enthusiasts trade coins to collect every year that the coin has been minted. Some deliberately get these coins as change from USPS vending machines just to put as many into circulation as possible.
With this golden coin being reissued in 2009, it’s possible that the average consumer will become interested in it again and will start using it more. Many people feel that paper dollars aren’t worth much because they quickly fade and tear after little use. However, you can still find coins, such as pennies, in circulation as long as seventy years after they were minted. This longevity shows how durable a coin can be. The new Sacagawea coin may be just what is needed to turn around our out-of-date system of paper money.
Sacagawea is the famous Native American who helped Lewis and Clark as they trekked across North America on their famous journey. She was immortalized in 2000 when the US mint began producing gold Sacagawea dollar coins. The initial minting of the coin lasted until 2003 and a new edition of the coin is planned for 2009. There are approximately 1 billion coins in circulation and there are 250 in the US reserve. They are most commonly found as the change given from US Post Office machines. People who trade dollar coins often trade Sacagawea dollars for many reasons. Most are enthusiast who wish to keep the coins in circulation.
- Menachem Green
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