2009-P Native American Dollar. Image: United States Mint / CoinWeek.
By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
Rebooting the Sacagawea Dollar
The Sacagawea Dollar series of 2000-2008 suffered the same fate as the Susan B. Anthony and Eisenhower Dollar series before it. Circulating side-by-side with the one-dollar Federal Reserve Note, the dollar coin proved unpopular with the general public.
Learning nothing from its past failures, in 2007, Congress once again attempted to introduce a small dollar coin into circulation with the launch of the Presidential Dollar series. It also set out to reboot the Sacagawea Dollar series by mandating no less than 20% of the annual dollar-coin issue be struck with the Glenna Goodacre obverse design and an annual refresh of the reverse to honor the many contributions of Native Americans to American life. This was authorized by Public Law 110–82 (PDF link), the Native American $1 Coin Act, signed by President George W. Bush on September 20, 2007.
The 2009-P Native American Dollar, the first coin in the Native American Dollar series, was released on January 17, 2009, at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American Indian Festival. In attendance were several VIPs, including United States Mint Director Edmund “Ed” Moy and Museum Director Kevin Grover. 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 corn in Mexico around 9,000 years ago.
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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens
As an ultramodern issue, the secondary market for the 2000-P Native American Dollar is far from settled. Out of a mintage of 39,200,000 pieces, PCGS has certified 1,275 examples and NGC has certified 425 (CAC only recently began its full-service grading operation and has yet to certify any as of September 2024). This means that population numbers have the potential to change radically, and with them, prices. Closer to the coin’s release, outstanding examples sold for over $1,000.
For now, certified specimens in the (current) top pop grade of MS68 tend to fall loosely between $300 and $400 at public auction. A grade lower, and
MS67 examples are selling for between roughly $10 and $30.
Raw coins have sold in the summer of 2024 or about $3 to $5 on sites like eBay.
Top Population: PCGS MS68 (16*, 9/2024), NGC MS68 (2, 9/2024), and CAC N/A (0:0 stickered:graded, 9/2024).
*The PCGS population data combines coins the grading service has designated Position A and Position B. While an explanation is offered in the Design section below, we have not observed collectors paying a distinct premium for one or the other and ignore it here.
PCGS MS68 #34983673: GreatCollections, March 8, 2020, Lot 809047 – View.
PCGS MS68 #14986785: “The Mile High Collection,” Heritage Auctions, January 9, 2017, Lot 10696 – $493.50.
PCGS MS68 #15549846: Heritage Auctions, June 6, 2014, Lot 5356 – $440.63. Pop 4 none finer at time of auction.
PCGS MS68 #14104356: Stack’s Bowers, June 20, 2013, Lot 4161 – $1,300.73. Pop 4 none finer at time of auction; GreatCollections, November 3, 2019, Lot 759870 – View. Gold Shield holder.
PCGS MS68: Teletrade, November 16, 2009, Lot 1730 – $1,207.50.
PCGS MS68: Teletrade, June 28, 2009, Lot 2763 – $1,437.50.
NGC MS67 #8134904-006: eBay, June 18, 2024, Lot 235604304973 – $11. Sacagawea (Large) label (#1370).
PCGS MS67 #28739639: GreatCollections, April 21, 2024, Lot 1188276 – View.
PCGS MS67 #14809639: GreatCollections, April 25, 2021, Lot 975531 – View.
PCGS MS67 #14971075: GreatCollections, May 17, 2020, Lot 808468 – View.
PCGS MS67 #14912858: GreatCollections, February 2, 2020, Lot 798733 – View.
PCGS MS67 #14912860: GreatCollections, January 15, 2012, Lot 9717 – View.
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2000-P Native American Dollar Design
Obverse:
Per Treasury Department guidelines, the obverse design of the small golden dollar portrays Sacagawea, a member of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe who acted as the guide for the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805-6. While her bust is facing right in a classic three-quarter profile, Sacagawea looks directly at the viewer and carries her infant son Jean-Baptiste on her back. Since the design guidelines requested that all submissions “be sensitive to cultural authenticity and try to avoid creating a representation of a classical European face in Native American headdress,” Sacagawea is depicted in a naturalistic style. Designer Glenna Goodacre used a modern-day Shoshone woman named Randy’L He-dow Teton as her model.
Above Sacagawea’s head is the word LIBERTY; in the left-hand field is the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The designer’s initials (G.G) can be seen on the infant’s swaddling cloth at the bottom of the design.
Reverse:
Dressed in a long, fringed dress and moccasins, a Native American woman plants seeds next to three tall corn stalks. Bean tendrils have begun to climb up the stalks, and squash gourds are present at their bases. Wrapping clockwise around the top of the central design is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in a stylized font. The denomination $1 is at the bottom. The initials NEN for reverse designer Norman E. Nemeth are below the second and third corn stalks.
Edge:
The incuse inscriptions on the edge of the 2009-P Native American Dollar include the date 2009, the P mintmark for Philadelphia, and the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.
On some edges, the inscriptions are upside-down when looking at the obverse from above; PCGS designates this lettering style as “Position A”. It follows that PCGS designates those dollars where the edge lettering is right side up as “Position B”.
Designers
The Sacagawea obverse was designed by sculptor Glenna Goodacre. When Goodacre passed away at the age of 80 in 2020, she was widely acknowledged as a highly skilled artist. Before her 1999 design for the Sacagawea dollar, Goodacre was known for creating the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and the Irish Memorial in Philadelphia.
Sculptor-Engraver Norman E. Nemeth worked at the Franklin Mint for over a decade before taking a position at the United States Mint.
Coin Specifications
Country:
United States of America
Year of Issue:
2009
Denomination:
One Dollar (USD)
Mintmark:
P (Philadelphia)
Mintage:
39,200,000
Alloy:
Outer layers of .770 copper, .120 zinc, .070 manganese, and .040 nickel surrounding a pure copper core (.885 copper, .060 zinc, .035 manganese, and .020 nickel cumulative)
Weight:
8.1 g
Diameter:
26.5 mm
Edge:
Lettered (Incuse)
OBV Designer:
Glenna Goodacre
REV Designer:
Norman E. Nemeth
Quality:
Business Strike
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The post 2009-P Native American Dollar – Three Sisters Agriculture : A Collector’s Guide appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
