2011 Native American Dollars

The 2011 Native American $1 Coin will be the third annual design change for the strike since 2009. The coin really dates back to the year 2000 with the release of the Sacagawea Dollar, but new reverses for the dollar were only authorized several years later.

The 2001 reverse design, by Richard Masters, features hands of the Supreme Sachem Ousamequin Massasoit and Governor John Carver, symbolically offering the ceremonial peace pipe after the initiation of the first formal written peace alliance between the Wampanoag tribe and the European settlers. The reverse includes the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $1, and WAMPANOAG TREATY 1621.

Each reverse, as dictated by the Native American $1 Coin Act of 2007 (Public Law 120-83), require new reverse designs annually from 2009 through at least 2016. Each design is reflective of the contributions Native Americans have made to the growth and development of the United States.

"We are proud to produce the Native American $1 Coin," said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. "When Americans use this coin, we hope they reflect on the tremendous contributions Native Americans have made, and continue to make, to our Nation."

The obverse of the coin continues to show sculptor Glenna Goodacre's portrait of the young Shoshone woman Sacagawea. Her portrait has been on a dollar coin since 2000 and acknowledges the importance she played in the Lewis & Clark Expedition through the frontier regions of the United States in the early 1800's.

2011 Native American Dollars will launch into circulation on January 12, 2011. That is the same day the coins are being ceremoniously released by the United States Mint at the Plimoth Plantation Henry Hornblower II Visitor Center in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Also issued during the year by the US Mint will be four other dollar coins. All four of those will be a part of the Presidential $1 Coin series and honor the former Presidents of the United States.

Native American Dollar Specifications

Mintmark: D, and P for circulation versions and S for proof
Finish/Condition: Circulated, Proof
Composition: 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, 2% nickel (manganese-brass)
Weight: 8.1 grams
Diameter: 26.5 mm or 1.043 inches
Edge: lettering
Date of Issue: TBD
Mintages: Based on Demand
Obverse Designer/Sculptor: Glenna Goodacre
Reverse Designer/Engraver: Richard Masters / Joseph Menna

Native American $1 Coin Resources

• US Mint Native American Dollars
• Native American $1 Coin Act