I know firsthand how unpopular Sacagawea can be. It's true, if the government wants to save what could be as much as $500 million dollars a year by replacing the costly $1 dollar bills with the all-too-weird and wonderful dollar coins, Sacagawea will have to go.
The Sacagawea coin -- or "Golden Dollar," as it is sometimes known due to its regal tone, usually only reserved for the most precious of metals -- was unveiled and placed into circulation in January 2000. The coin never came close to emerging beyond the paper dollar's shadow from whence it came. It failed to fulfill either of the creator's two goals: a common form of currency, or a collector's item.
Now, four years later, the same creators that brought us the ever-popular state quarters in 1999 are proposing a new set of dollar coins. These would, much like their lesser-valued counterparts, bear the likenesses of dead presidents in the order in which they reigned. Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., proposed starting the presidential coins in 2006. The presidents would be featured on the coins at a rate of four per year. The coins would retain the same gold color as Sacagawea, but hopefully not the same curse.
From 2001 to 2002 I worked at Trader Joe's. I spent most of my time on the cash registers, where I had my unique encounters with the Sacagawea coin.
Initially I enjoyed and appreciated the Sacagawea coin -- it's pretty, shiny and different from the rest. On the coin, the noble woman's body is facing the opposite direction, with her head turned toward you as if to bid a regretful, yet somber farewell, as she embarks on a deliciously exhilarating and perilous adventure.
After all, she is Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian whose name means 'Bird Woman.' She is famous for accompanying the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805 and 1806. Although historical accounts have shown that her role, although key, may have been a little smaller, she is nonetheless heavily lauded for her pivotal role in helping to lead the explorers to safety and their ultimate goal of discovery.
Although Sacagawea in life may have been a courageous adventurer, as a coin, she rarely went anywhere. Sacagawea would come to me from various customers, large and small. They all seemed to want to get rid of her.
My register drawer had a misfit little compartment in which I often placed paper clips and rubber bands, these had to be moved to make way for Sacagawea. They were dollars, yet I had a difficult time giving them back to customers as change; they would look at me strangely as if I were trying to cheat them if I presented them with the mysterious gold coins. They were coins, yet people in general just weren't comfortable with them.
Now, I personally would like to see a little cosmetic change in the money system, but that doesn't mean I'll be willing to take something resembling a Cracker Jack prize, even if the potential giver swears it has worth. Thus, the overarching problem with Sacagawea: she unfortunately doesn't look anything like money. She is not an old, dead white guy. She simply doesn't stand for money in this country, when British aristocracy seems to smack of it. If paper dollars are ever to be taken out of circulation, the dollars must be made to fall in line with the quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. Perhaps the coin dollars have something to learn from their lesser counterparts: being pretty will only find you a place in the misfit compartment of a cash register.
Nicole Girard is a journalism graduate student. She can be reached at nicole.girard@asu.edu.
