Wal-Mart Dishes Out the Sacagawea
by February 21, 2000 12:00 am 131 views
Shoppers at Wal-Mart Supercenters in Northwest Arkansas (and Sam’s Club in Springdale) have been getting weighed down with change. The store checkouts have been doling out the new Sacagawea dollar coins with change instead of dollar bills.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been working with the U.S. Mint to get the coins into circulation and to avoid the debacle that accompanied the release of the Susan B. Anthony dollar between 1979 and 1981. The new coins are being distributed through 3,000 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores nationwide.
The Anthony dollars were too close in size to quarters, had a similar ridged edge and were the same color. The Sacagawea dollars are gold in color, larger than quarters and have a smooth edge.
“Through the end of February, we will be the exclusive holder,” Laura Pope, a Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman told The Associated Press. “We’re giving it back automatically to customers unless you request dollar bills.”
In addition to Wal-Mart, the new coins, or certificates for the coins, are included in thousands of boxes of Cheerios cereal.
The new dollar coin contains an image of Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian woman who helped the Lewis and Clark expedition explore the West.
Philip Diehl, director of the U.S. Mint, says the arrangement with Wal-Mart immediately gets the new coins into thousands of cash registers across America.
The special deal with Wal-Mart has irritated some Main Street bankers and retailers who can’t get the coins. Banks across the country have been sending employees to Wal-Mart to buy coins so they can provide them to customers.