24K Gold Plated Native American Dollar - 2019

Starting in 2009, the Sacagawea Dollar became the Native American Dollar, with each year’s coin featuring a different reverse design honoring Native American culture and history. 

The 2019 reverse design highlights the contributions of Native Americans to the U.S. Space Program. American Indians have been on the modern frontier of space flight since its infancy. American Indian contributions to the U.S. Space Program culminated in the three spacewalks of John Herrington (Chickasaw) on the International Space Station in 2002. These and other pioneering achievements date back to the work of Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee), one of the first female American Indian engineers. She helped develop the Agena spacecraft for the Gemini and Apollo Programs.

This coin is a special limited edition that is richly plated in pure 24 karat gold. Just a tiny fraction of the coins have been set aside for this gold-plated edition. Gold-layered coins are not available from the U.S. Mint but only through special offers like this.

The obverse is Sacagawea, the Native American guide who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their quest to find a route to the Pacific Ocean.  Sacagawea was the first identifiable Native American to be featured on a circulating U.S. coin.