Mint Promotes Sacagawea Dollars Through Coinstar

If you think the US Mint was getting in bed with commercial operations such as General Mills and Wal-Mart to promote the Sacagawea dollar coin, wait till you hear the latest.

On March 16, the Mint announced an agreement with Coinstar Inc. that will promote the Sacagawea dollar coin while encouraging Americans to put uncounted and unrolled coins back into circulation.

Between March 15 and April 22 anyone bringing at least $20 face value in coins to a Coinstar coin counting machine is being rewarded with a coupon for the value of the money they placed into the machine (the coupon can be redeemed in the store in which the machine is located) and a voucher good for two Sacagawea dollars from Coinstar within 10 to 14 business days of the remittance.

It sounds on the surface like the taxpayer is paying for the Mint’s opportunity. US Mint Director Philip N. Diehl clarified the arrangement saying, “This promotion was attractive to us for several reasons. First, it helps us raise public awareness for the Golden [Sacagawea] Dollar. Second, the additional coins it brings back into circulation allow us to shift more of our production to Golden Dollars to meet the extraordinary demand for the new coin. And third, it allows thousands of grocers and other retailers to immediately participate in the business opportunity offered by the Golden Dollar.”

Coinstar President and CEO Dan Gerrity added, “Coinstar is proud to partner with the United States Mint on a national promotion such as this one. It is an honor for us and our supermarket partners to share in the successful launch of the Golden Dollar.”

Coinstar will launch a national advertising campaign during March and April to support the joint campaign.

Coinstar was founded in 1991 as a way for consumers to dispose of their small change in a convenient way. More than 66 million consumers have returned more than $2 billion in coins back into circulation through Coinstar since the company began. The Mint and Coinstar are estimating more than $7.7 billion in coins is in drawers, piggy banks and other places where the coins will not be used in circulation.

The Mint has been saying all along General Mills and Wal-Mart do not have a monopoly on working with the Mint to promote the new dollar coin. Diehl has said before he welcomes any business proposal which may be beneficial to both parties involved. The banks at one point appeared to give the Mint the cold shoulder, indicating they believed using financial institutions as the traditional distribution route should have been followed.

The Mint doesn’t want a repeat of the public rejection of the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin and is willing to try new approaches to marketing to ensure the Sacagawea dollar is a success. All indications to this point indicate they are succeeding. The Mint is now projecting it will likely strike more than 1 billion of the coins for circulation during 2000 at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints.

Information was not released by the Mint as to whether Coinstar was getting any form of discount for the Sacagawea dollar coins they will offer the public through the voucher redemption.

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.