Me and my trusty 1500 scored another SAC but it was so cruddy..

[Uncle Willy]

I couldn't tell what it was till I got it home and wire brushed it and it's still hard to see. This country sure mints crappy money. Bring back the glory days of silver - but then that ain't part of the plan - allowing us to own real money.. And you guessed it - it's another 2000 P. I've got about 35 of these I have found over the past two years or so and every one is a 2000 P. They minted these suckers for seven years so where did all the other years and mint marks go. People must have started hoarding them right after 2000.

Most all of the buried coins that came out of this area were in sad shape. I went out to a county park I haven't been to for a spell and for awhile I didn't find one cent, then I wandered out into a couple of the several sports fields they have there and the coins started popping up. The dollar was the last coin I found on the way to my van. It was about six inches down. The multi-colored gizmo is what the referees flip instead of a coin to see who kicks off first. First one of those that I have ever found. Total of the finds is about $5.30. Was hoping for a ring but no such luck. I'll have to go back and hunt the rest of the fields. There are about five or six there plus three baseball fields.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

n/t

 

[sasquache]

cool uncle willy i have yet too find one !

 

[dahut]

Well I'm not going to say anything about the clad SAC - you already know all that stuff. If it is indeed a clad, then either someone is blowing a load of horse feces about their rarity on the internet coin sites - or you have got to be the luckiest geezer on the planet!

The 2000-P mintage was the most numerous for the SAC dollar, with something like a gazillion stamped out. The intent was to flood the market with them, so there would be no shortage as people rushed to embrace them over the paper dollar.

In fact, if you'll recall, WalMart was one of the intitial distribution points for the coin. Smart thinking there, one of the few times the Mint has exhibited anything approaching lucid thought. They could also be had by redeeming a coupon inside cereal boxes! The mintages were expected to hold high after this first rush, as Americans lovingly welcomed the change to the dollar coin. It was expected that within a decade or less, the paper dollar would have gone the way of the dodo.

Well, surprise - that didn't happen.

We cling to those paper dollars like a stripper to a millionaire, refusing to spend the dollar coins. We have yet to truly welcome dollar coins, of any type. They have always represented such purchasing power to Yankees that we hoard them, saving them for harder times to come. The last one that was even remotely commonplace was the silver Liberty Head w/ Rays dollar coin (what most people refer to as "the Peace Dollar")
For most people, any dollar coin is still considered an oddity.

The quarter dollar is the workhorse of our coinage, and it seems that won't change ANY time soon.

Now, me, I spend dollar coins regularly and I take them in change whenever I can. My usual comment at stores and restaurants is, "Got any dollar coins? I'll take all you have." This is normally greeted with quizzical looks, like maybe I had forgotten to take my medication today.
Such expressions of condolence are then followed by the all-too-common response, "No, there's none in the drawer. Sorry."

Here are the mintage numbers for the SAC dollar, in case you're interested:

2000-P..............767,150,000
2000 - D ...........518,920,000
2000- S ........... 4,063,000
2001 - P........... 62,470,000
2001 - D .......... 70,940,000
2001 - S (proof) .3,184,750
2002 - P ...........3,869,000
2002 - D ...........3,733,000
2002 - S (proof) 3,212,000
2003 - P ...........3,080,002
2003 - D ...........3,080,002
2003 - S (proof) 3,300,000
2004 - P............2,660,010
2004 - D............2,660,010
2004 - S (proof) 2,992,096
2005-P .............2,525,000
2005-D .............2,525,000
2005-S (proof) ...3,275,000
2006-P no figures available
2006-D "
2006-S (proof) "
2007-P "
2007-D "
2007-S "

I have never seen a referree "decision coin" either. I've seen the "Heads-Tails" coins (found a few, in fact), which makes decisions pretty easy, at least in my book. But, I've never seen one of those. Pretty cool findings.

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

That is a lot of coinage minted.
Wonder where it all went to?

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah they minted over a billion of the suckers. The initial run was 600,000,000 then they spent $40 million on an ad campaign to coerce the stupid public into spending them. Didn't work.

Bill

 

[dahut]

...the 2000 issue, totalling 1,290,133,000 coins.
Then they went to banks and distribution centers and just sat. We think that they go out to the public right away, but that isnt so. They are disbursed through channels. When people don't go nuts over them, the banks can't move them. So they sit.
You can still get all you want

 

[cwilk]

referee coin. Never saw one of those before. I have a few finds from my trip to Philadelphia but my camera is still packed and I'm too beat to go out to my truck to get it. I'll post some out of town finds tomorrow. Nothing too special. Started a new project.

Chris

 

[Uncle Willy]

Keep looking. They're out there but really scarce. Guess I've been lucky as I have found over 40 SACS, Susan B's, and the new Presidential dollars. Have over 30 of the SACS.


Bill

 

[cwilk]

2009 Red Book lists:

2006P 4,900,000
2006D 2,800,000
2006S 3,054,436
2007P 3,640,000
2007D 3,920,000
2007S 2,062,793

The only two years this book says that were not placed in circulation were 2007 and 2008. The reverse of the Sac Dollar is supposed to change in 2009.

They started out the presidential dollars in very high mintage too. I was expecting the dollar bill to go the way of the do-do but we Americans just love them so I will agree with you they are here for a while. I bet by the time the Presidential Dollar ends they will switch to a dollar coin. There are rumors that it will bear the likeness of Ronald Reagan.

Uncle Willy, my two cents. You sure do find a lot of dollar coins. I think I've found around 20-25 since 2007. The composition of the Sac Dollar is described as pure copper core with an outer layer of manganese brass. They get the look you describe as "clad" after spending some time in a coin dispensing machine. Up around here many bigger cites NYC, Boston, Philadelphia use them for bridges and mass transportation and they spend a fair amount of time spinning around in these machines. I was at the mint yesterday and they had vending machines that dispensed the current State Quarter or the current Presidential Dollar.

Chris

I spend dollar coins all the time too. I love them and personally I can't wait to buy a few thousand Reagan Dollars to spread around.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah I've seen a couple of the referee coins but never found one in all the soccer fields and ball fields I have hunted. Will be looking for your pics.

Bill.

 

[Uncle Willy]

That was the total for the year but the first batch that went out was 600,000,000. My bank never has any SACs or the new dollars. I've tried several times to pick up a roll or two. This must be hoarder heaven here in Oregon. Maybe they're saving them for hard times.

Some expert money guys were on TV today saying this recession/depression is going to really get bad and last for ten years but I predicted all this crap over a year ago over on the Views Forum and everybody laughed. They ain't laughing now. Japan was just coming out of a deep recession that lasted 14 years and now they get hit with this. But all the high living here in the U.S. had to end sooner or later..All these people that have never been in a deep recession or all out depression are in for a whole new experience.


Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Get you some Bama coins. They're selling them right now on TV. I heard they were going to make changes to the SAC dollar and mint a bunch more. I really see no point unless they pull the dollar bill out of circulation. It's like beating a dead horse. And they should make the dollar the size of the original dollar coins. One reason people ain't fond of them is that they ain't much bigger than a quarter and create confusion and don't look like a dollar coin should look.

When I lived in Vegas in the late fifties early sixties I had pockets full of silver dollars all the time as it was the coin of the realm there and there was no mistaking one of those puppies for a quarter. You knew you had real money in your hand when you pulled a Morgan or a Peace Dollar out of your jeans..They should stop minting dollar bills and put dollar coins out in a man size coin then people would spend them and would have to. But as long as they're in competition with the dollar bill they ain't going to fly.

Bill

 

[dahut]

... I misread mintage for distribution numbers. My bad - sorry.

As for the dollar coin, you are right on most counts. The one sure way to get them into working circulation is to remove the paper dollar from circulation. Period. Fini. End of Story.

Once that is done, there is little choice BUT to use them. It won't matter what they look like then. That's going to be one of the few times I'll agree with draconian government involvement in our affairs. Since it is one of the few real duties of the national government to regulate currency for trade and commerce, they have that priviledge.

On that note, the switch to the "gold dollar" concept is a good one. It does differentiate them from our other fractionals. Perhaps adding a thicker rim or some rim scalloping would help, too. Otherwise, they're fine the way they are.

The mint actually does surveys to find out what people feel should be part of the coinage. Conservative, mostly patriotic designs win. We probably wont see any fish or cacti soon. Dead presidents, eagles and other patriotica seem to rule.

We can take our cue from our friends to the north. Canada has been without a onsie bill for some time now. Somehow they have survived without it. So could we, and I doubt we'd even notice But the keystone of the whole thing is to stop circulating paper onesies.

Obama coins? No thanks.
I sure wish someone would have put out Sarah Palin coins, though. Now that would be something!

 

[Bernie]

Nice going on all the SAC dollars. My wife found one on the beach, but we didn't know enough about them to check it out to see what kind is was.

 

[mwaffird]

My husband metal detected years ago (late '80s), but had to give it up due to health related issues. Now that those issues have been resolved I would like to get him back into the hobby. It is the only exercise he really enjoys.

He is brand loyal to garrett. I have been looking at the GTI 1500 and the Master Hunter CX Plus. We live around the Nashville, TN area and will eventually be doing some serious relic hunting. But in the meantime, He plans on getting reaquainted with the hobby by doing some coin and jewelry hunting.

From what I am reading here, the GTI 1500 is an excellent coin hunter. How is it for relics?