Dumb idea, or great one?

robertk · Jul 27, 2025

I just saw where the US Mint is going to make a limited number of gold Sacagawea dollar coins -- that are actually gold. They will be half ounce coins that are exactly the same size as the original clad coin. As if the ever-changing coins in circulation aren't confusing enough. And at least going from the images on their website, it will still have a face value of one dollar, and does not even say that it's real gold! Now granted, it's a very limited minting, a proof coin, and comes in a plastic capsule. But somehow this just seems like it's going to cause problems. (How long before we get posts on here asking how much the "gold dollar" someone found in their pocket change is worth?)

jewelerguy · Jul 27, 2025

I began collecting coins when I was a very young kid well over 50 years ago. The coins you could get then were basically just coins from circulation, commemorative issues which were few instead of a different one every week or so as there are now, uncirculated sets, and proof sets. So, practically everything was intended for circulation with the exception of the mint sets. I don't really like how the mint has in recent years become a souvenir factory. I feel like most of it is driven by the fact that they have realized they can make profits from every new release, especially the clad coins. It just doesn't seem right to me. When the country was founded, the mint and the postal service was intended to be a non profit government service for the people, not a for profit business.

UnderMiner · Jul 27, 2025

Wow, that's a terrible idea by the mint. Have they already forgotten the fiasco of the 1883 V nickle where critical information (the word "cents") was omitted leading to people gold plating and passing the coin off as a gold $5 piece (which was the same size)? In this situation with the Sacagawea gold dollar, the denomination of $1 remains but the information of it being gold is omitted, this will lead to scammers erroneously gold plating regular Sacagawea coins and trying to pass them off as gold to unsuspecting people - likely using images of the actual gold Sacagawea dollar coins on the US Mint's own website as proof that their coin is indeed the real deal. It's been over 20 years since the Sacagawea Dollar came out. Many people may not even remember it and confuse the scammer's coin for simply an entirely new gold coin. Many people are going to lose alot of money.

AU Seeker · Jul 27, 2025

It will be interesting to see how these sell, I wouldn't buy one because of the lack of it not saying they're gold on the coin.

I agree it stupid on the mint's part to omit putting "gold" on them!

releventchair · Jul 27, 2025

Maybe the mint had help designing from the post office budget folks.

cudamark · Jul 28, 2025

They really couldn't come up with a better design? If you're going to recycle a design, how about using the Indian head eagle, or 2nd design of the cap bust eagle? Even the classic head would be better.

ARC · Jul 28, 2025

Actually they have been done already and squashed the idea once.
they have already existed for 25 years now.... BUT... never released for circulation.
Only 39 were minted...

"However, that idea was eventually quashed. Instead of melting all 39 coins, the Mint chose the 12 best-looking examples for future displaying purposes and melted the remaining 27 coins.
The 12 surviving examples were later sent 1.8 million miles into outer space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia to commemorate Eileen Collin as the first female U.S. astronaut to be a commander on a space shuttle flight. On August 31, 2001, the 12 coins were then transported to Fort Knox for safe keeping. On August 10, 2007 the coins were briefly removed from Fort Knox to be displayed at the American Numismatic Association's World Fair of Money in Milwaukee, Wisconsin."

unclemac · Jul 28, 2025

jewelerguy said:
I began collecting coins when I was a very young kid well over 50 years ago. The coins you could get then were basically just coins from circulation, commemorative issues which were few instead of a different one every week or so as there are now, uncirculated sets, and proof sets. So, practically everything was intended for circulation with the exception of the mint sets. I don't really like how the mint has in recent years become a souvenir factory. I feel like most of it is driven by the fact that they have realized they can make profits from every new release, especially the clad coins. It just doesn't seem right to me. When the country was founded, the mint and the postal service was intended to be a non profit government service for the people, not a for profit business.

i totally agree... I like a coin that shows some wear, like it was used. They are a part of history. As for the new collector coins.... dig around on this site, it is a joke,