With the "burnishing" myth dispelled, the need to explain the appearance of the Goodacre and Millennium dollars remains. They possess prooflike surfaces, something that the typical business-strike Sacagawea dollar lacks. The Goodacre pieces also exhibit a much more uniform color than other Sacagawea pieces.
A careful, thorough inspection of the surfaces of these dollars provides the answers. Both the Goodacre and Millennium dollars exhibit strongly reflective surfaces in the flat field areas of the coin, not on the raised devices. Look at the area on and around IN GOD WE TRUST or ONE DOLLAR on the coin. Notice that the field area around these letters is prooflike, even the field areas inside the letters (such as the inside opening of an o or a d). However, the reflectivity changes on the letters themselves. The raised portion of the letters has a different texture and appearance, and the mirror effect diminishes significantly. What type of surface polishing or treatment can produce a mirrored field without altering the appearance of the raised devices rising up from this field? The obvious answer is that no post-strike method could produce this effect.
A clear knowledge of the striking process is required to resolve this issue. A working die used to produce coins is the exact opposite of the finished coin from a "relief" point of view (see diagram). Anything that is raised on the coin is incuse (sunken) on the die. Due to this, the highest points on the struck coin must be the lowest or deepest points on the die. Conversely, the lowest surface on the struck coin, which is the field, is the highest surface on the die.
When working dies are polished just before being placed into the coinage press, it is typically the top flat area that is polished smooth. This area on the die becomes the field area of the struck coins. This also includes the field area inside raised lettering, such as IN GOD WE TRUST as previously mentioned. Where it is virtually impossible to polish a protected area such as this on a struck coin, it is simplicity itself to produce a prooflike finish in this area of the die.
Again, comparison with modern Proof coins illustrates this concept. A modern Proof coin will exhibit deeply mirrored fields, including the field area inside lettering or date digits. The raised portions of a modern Proof coin display cameo contrast, as these areas on the finished dies did not receive the same type of polishing.
The last major area of concern is the post-strike rinse and drying operation given to the Goodacre pieces. It has been proposed by certain individuals that this process gave the Goodacre dollars their prooflike surfaces. Had this been the case, the higher points on the coins would have displayed stronger mirrors than the protected field areas, simply due to a greater exposure to the crushed corn cob mixture used in the drying step. Since the coins exhibit the exact opposite effect, a reasonable person could assume that this theory is incorrect.
Even more convincing is the evidence provided by a number of Goodacre and Millennium dollars with "struck-through" errors. A "struck-through" error occurs when a foreign object falls between a blank planchet and the die during the striking process. This object can be a fragment of metal, a lump of dirt or grease, even a small piece of plastic. During normal press operations this type of error occurs frequently, as the striking of coins produces metal shavings or fragments on a constant basis, and dirt and grease are always present on and around the coinage presses.
I have had the opportunity to examine more than 100 Goodacre and Millennium dollars with small to quite noticeable "struck-through" errors. Most of them have occurred in an open field area, including several Goodacre dollars with a large "struck-through" in the upper reverse field above E PLURIBUS UNUM. Since the object producing this type of error is usually rough and irregular, the resulting depressed area on the coin will be equally roughened, with little or no luster.
Had the final rinsing and drying operation been the cause of the prooflike surfaces on these coins, the "struck-through" areas would also have been polished. At the very least, these areas would be closer in appearance to the field areas around them. With every coin I have examined, this is absolutely not the case. The "struck-through" areas on these dollars are very dull, with a rough, uneven surface and a noticeably different color. This is exactly the way a "struck-through" area appears on any other business strike, proving that the rinsing and drying process did not alter the surfaces of the Goodacre dollars.
Given this information, it becomes evident that the final rinsing and drying process used for the Goodacre dollars performed exactly what the Mint employee stated. This step was used to remove any surface residue from the coins, and to prevent spotting. The solution used, one of many employed by the Mint to eliminate the spotting problems they were having with the Sacagawea dollars, gave the Goodacre pieces their uniform color, but nothing else. These coins came off the dies with their prooflike surfaces present, received special handling and packaging, and were then presented to Goodacre.
The reason the prooflike surfaces on the Goodacre Sacagawea dollars are as deep as they are probably has more to do with Mint pride than anything else. The Mint workers knew who these dollars were intended for, and wanted to deliver an attractive product. I have no doubt that the dies used to strike the Goodacre pieces received a special polishing. They were even removed midway through the 5,000-piece production run and repolished, as there are several die states known. The blanks were specially treated to improve striking and surface quality, then the struck coins were rinsed with a "custom" solution and thoroughly dried to prevent spotting and staining. These pieces were not double struck from Proof quality dies, so they are technically business strikes, but all the time and effort paid off in the form of a truly special finished product.
As for the Millennium dollars, they did not receive as much attention as the Goodacre pieces. The dies for the Millennium dollars were not as carefully and thoroughly polished, resulting in prooflike surfaces of lesser depth. The Millennium pieces also did not receive the special post-strike rinse, as these coins occur spotted and stained. Even the handling was not as meticulous, as the Millennium dollars exhibit many more contact marks and were more mishandled than the Goodacre coins. However, they share most of the other characteristics with the Goodacre pieces, and as has been proved by a careful study of these pieces, none of the Millennium Sacagawea dollars were polished or altered after they were struck. The prooflike surfaces on the Millennium dollars are solely the result of planchet and die preparation.
It is a shame that the Mint took the time to produce a truly special, very limited edition issue, only to have the pieces slandered with the term "post-strike burnished." It is even more of a shame that through the misuse of this terminology, thousands of novice collectors began to believe that "burnished" is a positive attribute, something that would increase the value of a coin. This notion is totally incorrect. Any coin that has been post-strike polished or burnished is a damaged coin, no different than a whizzed or acid treated piece. It is indeed fortunate that none of the Goodacre and Millennium Sacagawea dollars suffered this fate at the Mint, as they can now be prized and sought after as genuine, original, unaltered Mint products.
Michael G. Fahey is senior numismatist at ANACS, Columbus, Ohio.
