The color of our money is changing even as we speak.
Now that the 2000 Sacagawea dollar coin is in circulation, people are suddenly noticing the golden color manganese-nickel composition coin comes in several flavors. The logical question is whether any of these color varieties have any value.
Hey gang, has anybody ever looked at a brand new, shiny Lincoln cent, then compared it to a cent that has been in circulation for some time? You might notice some tarnish or patina on the surfaces. Even if you collected the coin in Brilliant Uncirculated and simply left it somewhere, you often find the coin tones because of our polluted environment. Some collectors won't even purchase a Red Uncirculated or Red Proof cent because they fear color changes on their "investment" may occur at a later date.
Ask any collector of ancient bronze denomination coins about patina, toning and the lack of original Mint luster. Collectors in these realms pay premium prices for coins toned to the best eye appeal.
Go north of our borders to Canada and get yourself a few aureate-nickel composition Loon dollar coins (which also begin as a golden color coin when in BU) and see what different shades you will find even with coins just released by the Mint.
There is a significant difference between the color of some coins depending on how long the blank was in the annealing process, the tonnage of the strike, moisture trapped in the Mint-sewn bag from which the coin came and who knows how many other factors. If the Loon dollar ("Loonie," if you please) is composed of aureate-nickel, then it doesn't matter. An error coin would be composed of the wrong metal, not of metal simply toned an off-color.
The Sacagawea dollar coin is about to go through the same hoops regarding the public's reaction to its color changes. Considering the composition of the surface metals, you can be rest assured that there will be changes even if you simply leave the coin on a coffee table for a while. The initial pretty golden color will soon deepen in tone to a darker color that hints at dirty brass, tan or brown.
What these changes in color bring up for collector consideration is the factor of eye appeal in the future. Collectors prize certain Morgan silver dollars over others of the same date, Mint mark and condition, simply because of how the coin toned, or how it didn't tone. We could see the same situation regarding eye appeal develop for collecting the Sacagawea dollar.
In the future, it's possible that there will be collectors who will want Sacagawea dollars that are still in the same bright, pure golden color as they were when they rolled off the presses. Yet, there might also be demand for BU examples with various attractive shades of rainbow toning--a real possibility considering the mix of metals composing the coin.
The Morgan silver dollar is composed of .900 fine silver with 10 percent copper. Each of these metals reacts to the local environment in which the coin is stored in time.
The Sacagawea dollar may be referred to as manganese-nickel, but it is actually comprised of 88.5 percent copper, 6 percent zinc, 3.5 percent manganese and 2 percent nickel; the copper-zinc-manganese-nickel mix at the surface has significantly less copper than at the core of the planchet. The surface toning that may result could follow the pattern of toning on brass or copper. With improper storage or improper manufacture of the planchets, it is possible the center copper core could "erupt" and react in a similar manner to an ancient silver-coated copper fourree, eventually causing a bubble to rise to the surface of the coin.
Right now the Sacagawea dollar is too new to determine if a premium value will be placed on coins of certain original Mint bloom or that tone a specific way. The coin is hopefully going to be around for a long time. We've got lots of time to see collector reaction to the coin.
Richard Giedroyc is a numismatic writer, researcher, auction cataloger and coin dealer. He has been in the hobby and business most of his life, now having more than three decades’ experience in this fascinating hobby field. During this time Giedroyc has been the owner of Paris Bergman Galleries, owner of Classical Coin Newsletter, international editor of Coin World and owner of Giedroyc-Anderson Interesting World Coins. He is currently a numismatic consultant. He has written more than 2,000 byline numismatic stories and contributed to several coin catalogs.
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