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U.S. Golden Dollar

Dateline: 08/14/00

By Alan Bruzel

Gold-Colored Brass, Not Real Gold

For centuries, man has obtained the useful alloy brass by combining copper with zinc. Nowadays, the United States Mint is apparently able to mix these two metals, add some manganese and nickel, and produce not brass, but gold. Well, at least a coin described as "golden": the Sacagawea Golden Dollar.

Sacagawea traveled with the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804 to 1806) through the American West. Historians are unaware of any drawing of this Shoshone Indian, but someone's likeness – arising more from artistic license than historical accuracy – nevertheless smiles at us from the Golden Dollar. We may allow the U.S. Mint some degree of latitude in artistic matters, but their implied ability to transmute base metals into gold should not pass unchallenged.

Of what are coins really composed?

Current Composition of U.S. Coins

The U.S. Mint describes the percentage of metal in their coins as:

The above table shows that the yellow-colored coin, known as the Golden Dollar, is mostly composed of copper (current London Metal Exchange price about $0.85 per pound), with some zinc (about $0.52 per pound), and nickel (about $3.40 per pound). The coin weighs 8.1 grams (about 0.018 pounds). Leaving out the cost of manganese (which isn't too expensive), the Golden Dollar is made of metals worth about one and one-half cents. Admittedly, high purity coin metal costs more, and other expenses – such as finding an artist who can invent a likeness of Sacagawea (and her child!) out of pure ether – also must be added in, but it's clearly not the metals that give today's coins their value.

The guilt (or is it gilt?) of fashioning a faux gold coin does not rest solely with the U.S Mint. The 0.10, 0.20, and 0.50 euro coins (the 10, 20, and 50 cent pieces of the nations participating in the European Monetary Union) are not real gold either, but are "Nordic Gold" whose composition is 89% copper, 5% aluminum, 5% zinc, and 1% tin. It seems that not an atom of gold is intentionally added into anyone's "golden" coins.

For illustrative purposes we may then ask: How large would one (U.S.) dollar of gold be?

Actual Size of a Gold Dollar

The price of gold at this writing is around $275 per troy ounce. One troy ounce equals about 31.10348 grams. One dollar of gold is thus 31.10348 divided by 275, or 0.113 grams. Conveniently for the purposes of mental comparison, the Kennedy half-dollar weighs 11.340 grams, which means that one dollar of gold is just about one-hundredth the weight of the Kennedy half-dollar. In this regard, no matter what we may think of their not-too-subtle attempts to muddle together "gold" and "golden" and "Nordic Gold," the U.S. and European mints actually do perform a laudable service: by using inexpensive metals instead of gold, they provide coins large enough for us to see.

One more point. Lewis and Clark probably used Sacagawea more as a translator than as a guide. Upon speaking with another Shoshone Indian, she translated what she heard into another American Indian language, Hidatsa. Sacagawea's husband, a Frenchman, translated Hidatsa to French. Another Frenchman in the expedition translated French into English for Lewis and Clark. If the Sacagawea Golden Dollar could speak it might say: Avoid doubletalk; always ask for a chemical analysis.

What the Web Has to Say about:
U.S. Golden Dollar

Euroland or Bust
Tracing the roots of European money up to the new euro. From Robert Kunzig, Discover magazine.

Gold
History, mining, and properties of this metal. Information pamphlet from the U.S. Geological Survey.

London Metal Exchange
Provides a market and storage facilities for traders of non-ferrous metals.

Marketing the New Dollar Coin
Advertising the advantages of this coin. From About.com's Banking: U.S. Guide.

MetalPrices.com
Current and historical prices of selected metals, scrap metals, and elements.

Sacagawea: Guide to the West?
Story of this member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. From About.com's Women's History Guide.

Technical Specifications of the Euro Coins
Pictures and composition of these new coins. From Geert Desmet's Euro page.

United States Mint
Find out how coins are made, and learn about their newest products, including the Golden Dollar. Their American Eagle Bullion Coins are 22 karat gold (91.66% gold, 4.16% silver, 4.16% copper).

What's It Made Of?
A feature from this Web site describing the chemical composition of common items, including gold alloys and coins.

Yet Another Dollar Coin?
Use of large coins by the American public. From About.com's U.S. Gov Info/Resources Guide.

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