Pity the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
The silver-ish coin that was so often mistaken for a quarter turned out to be a bust almost as soon as it was released in 1979. But the golden-looking Sacagawea dollar that replaced it was enthusiastically embraced from the start and, although the initial novelty seems to have worn off a little, it still appears be well-accepted.
Early news reports showed 500 million Sacagawea coins were in circulation within the first four months after it was released in January 2000. U.S. Mint officials in May suggested that shipments of the coins were expected to exceed 1 billion.
There are no statistics as to how these coins currently are circulating in the Salt Lake City, said Paul Morley, coordinator of public information for the Salt Lake branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
"We have sufficient supply of them if the banks want to order them. We don't track volumes for the Salt Lake area," Morley said.
"In general the volume was pretty high at first. There was a novelty push," said Rob Brough, vice president/public relations for Zions Bank. "Today, we don't see a high volume in terms of our branches requesting the coin. From our perspective, we don't see a high amount of usage of the coin.
"Someone like UTA would use them a lot because their machines are equipped to take the coin," Brough said. "I think as merchants and other vendors adopt the use of the coin, I think we'll see a greater demand for the coin."
Collectors like the Sacagawea dollar and buy it regularly, but anecdotal information would indicate that other people like these coins as well, according to H. Robert Campbell, owner of All About Coins and president of the American Numismatic Association.
"When I've seen people get them in change, they're very interested in what the coin is," Campbell said.
"They're still called 'golden dollars.' Just a couple of days ago, there was a question, 'What color is the new Sacagawea coin?' on the show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' The correct answer was 'gold,' and the person got it," Campbell said.
The coin actually isn't gold but a mix of copper, brass and manganese. Unlike the unfortunate Susan B. Anthony dollar with its ridged edge and quarter-size, the Sacagawea dollar has extra-wide, smooth edges and is a thicker coin.
Among other things, Campbell thinks people like the story behind the coin.
Sacagawea was a 16-year-old Shoshone Indian who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their 1805 expedition to the Pacific Ocean. She was more than a mere guide, Campbell said. "She was a remarkable young woman. She was a translator, she secured horses and safe passage, and in once instance, jumped into an icy river to recover the diaries that Lewis and Clark were keeping that had fallen into the river. She risked her life to save their journals."
Besides their novel look, the coins are convenient. "There really haven't been any problems with vending machines," said Larry Wachtor, owner of Wachtor Electronics Inc.
The coins also are accepted by UTA and TRAX.
"In our ticket vending machines, these are the change they give back. At the light-rail station, if you put a $5 bill in for a $2 ticket, they'll give you three dollar coins back," according to Kris McBride, UTA public relations specialist.
Although UTA handles plenty of the coins, McBride said it's difficult to determine precisely how many riders are plugging them in because the ticket vending machines dispense so many of the dollars back as change.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com