The final series of Ecuadorian sucre bank notes used in the years before dollarization .
Liberty , 27 % preferred Sacajawea , 2 % felt either was acceptable , 3 % said neither was acceptable and 3 % had no opinion . Nonetheless , Sacajawea became the subject of the new dollar coin .
Designing the Sacajawea Dollar
Invitations were sent to 23 artists with specific guidelines as to what their designs should present . The obverse was to carry the representation of Sacajawea , while the reverse was to depict an eagle that symbolized peace and freedom . Another guideline stated the designs should be “ sensitive to cultural authenticity , and try to avoid creating a representation of a classical European face in Native American headdress .”
In November and December 1998 , the US Mint invited teachers , numismatists and historians , as well as American Indians , members of Congress and government officials , to review the submitted designs . Following their review , as well as several polls and focus groups , three obverse and four reverse designs were chosen as finalists .
The seven designs were sent to the US Commission of Fine Arts . They chose the work of Glenna Goodacre , who crafted an obverse motif of Sacajawea and her infant son , Jean Baptiste Charbonneau . Since there were no contemporary portraits of
Sacajawea , Goodacre asked Randy ’ L Hedow Teton , a member of the Shoshone- Bannock tribes , to model for her . The reverse selected was a soaring eagle by US Mint sculptor-engraver Thomas D . Rogers . Goodacre received a $ 5,000 commission for her work . She requested that amount be paid in the dollar coins she designed . Mint Director Diehl and other Mint officials personally delivered the coins to her on April 5 , 2000 .
Marketing the Sacajawea Dollar
While the Susan B . Anthony dollar had a marketing budget of $ 600,000 , the new Sacajawea golden dollar was allotted a
30 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Spring 2024 | www . MoAF . org