John's Modern Take 2nd Edition
12 - 2000-P SACAGAWEA DOLLAR, "CHEERIOS" VARIETY

Owner Comments:

This is the "Cheerios" or Prototype Reverse or boldly detailed tail feathers Dollar. The score is strikingly low for a coin of such rarity. In theory 5500 were minted using the reverse of a prototype die. The problem with the 5500 number is that that is this is simply the number of dollar coins sold by the Mint to General Mills. This was done at the end of 1999 for inclusion in in random boxes of Cheerios to commemorate the new millennium. The true number is clearly much lower based on three factors. First, population reports are too low. Second, in spite of wide publicity after the discovery coin of 2005 (thank you Tom DeLorey for another great find) there has been a striking lack of new specimen discoveries. Third, because only the obverse is visible in the Cheerios packaging, which shows the common P mint mark obverse not the prototype W, to receive the "Cheerios Dollar" moniker coins were submitted in the original packaging . NGC received several "Cheerios Dollar" coins in their original unopened and un-tampered Cheerios packaging with common circulation strike not prototype reverses. Therefore the number of "prototype reverse" coins is most certianly lower than the 5500. Thus NGC denotes these coins as prototype reverse rather that Cheerios dollars.

The backstory on the "prototype" is interesting. The full prototype obverse and reverse dies came into existence to make 39 sample gold 2000-W Sacagawea coins in 1999. These were made on same 0.9127 fine gold planchets used to strike $25 Uncirculated Gold Eagles. The mint's plan was to sell these gold coins to collectors. Congress, however, intervened and quashed the idea. Then after close inspection of the 39 coins 12 of the 2000-W Sacagawea dollars were selected to commemorate the first woman to command a space shuttle flight. She is Eileen Collins, Commander of the Space Shuttle mission STS-93, launched in July 1999. The coins made an almost 2 million mile journey before being taken to Fort Knox for safe keeping. Of the original 39 the remaining 27 gold dollars were melted.