Finest known Cheerios Prototype Dollar coming up for auction later this month
CaptHenway
Posts: 32,958 ✭✭✭✭✭
An online friend is selling some Cheerios Prototype Dollars through Stack's. The first one, an NGC-69, will appear in this sale:
I have no financial interest in the coin. I simply have always had an interest in the Prototype coin itself, ever since I noticed the change in the tail feathers design back in January of 2000.
TD
Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Author "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," due out late 2025.
7
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There are four more a few days later, starting here:
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-1KQEL0/2000-p-sacagawea-cheerios-dollar-fs-902-boldly-detailed-tail-feathers-ms-67-pcgs-sculptor-engraver-of-the-us-mint-ret-thomas
There are two more, including an actual circulated piece (come on, if you got a dollar in the box of cereal your Mom bought wouldn't you spend it?) a few days after that, plus a Wounded Eagle in the lot before them.
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-1KVZB1/2000-p-sacagawea-cheerios-dollar-fs-902-boldly-detailed-tail-feathers-au-58-details-cleaned-anacs
TD
Maybe it's time I think about establishing a Stack's account.... not that I can afford one of these. 😉
I think the die marker shows up pretty good on the detailed 58.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Thanks. But 25 years later and two shipment to General mills in late 1999 has me thinking only 500 prototype coins were struck , even though 5500 went to General Mills. i will never be convinced that 5000 were broken out of the original blister packs and spent. Far too many “regular” coins were found in those blister packs. Thus, I think Phillip Diehl had a second shipment to General Mills which were not prototypes. Have mentioned this before and it is based in theory , and commom sense. why ? Because there are still fewer than 300 known to exist.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Congratulations! You now have a mission. Track down Mr. Diehl and find out. No rush, we can wait...
I'm joking but I'm serious!
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I respectfully disagree. My guess is that approximately 3/4ths of the 5500 dollars that went into the cereal boxes had the prototype reverse.
Hey Hey CaptHenway !
A while back you seemed to have a desire to rehome your factory sealedCHERRIOS example.
Do you have it/them still ?
and will it be pedigreed
I sold the one in the original packaging to a collector.
I still have the “DeLorey Specimen.”
Excited for the opportunity to bid but sad to see such an amazing collection of Cheerios Dollars broken up. Hope to pick one up
That one should be in the Smithsonian some day
There is an original package for sale in the BST. No mention of die marker though.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1046083/fs-2000-p-pcgs-ms67-cheerios-dollar-original-package-cheerios-dollar-for-sale-price-reduced#latest
And I only just noticed the seller is posting to this topic also.
Collector, occasional seller
He is selling the slabbed MS-67, and has two of the original packaging sets he is open to talking about.
CHEERIOS BST thread mentioned above is almost 5 years old:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1046083/fs-2000-p-pcgs-ms67-cheerios-dollar-original-package-cheerios-dollar-for-sale-price-reduced/p1
Yep I started the thread in 2020 but it’s updated with the coins I’m currently offering
I guess you've sold several CHEERIOS in slabs and COAs with or without critical die markers ?
I am curious, how many have you found homes for ?
I considered buying when they traded for much less $
Actual sales information seems rather scarce these days.
Are you this same collector who has had like 3 dozen in and out of slabs ?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1109822/the-cheerios-dollar-is-perhaps-he-best-almost-affordable-modern-sleeper-buyer-coin/p1
No the collector you’re referring to from that other thread is someone else. I have done business with him but there are in fact at least two serious Sac collectors
Anybody at the ANA show seen any Cheerios dollars offered on the floor?
Live bidding begins on the first one mentioned in three days.
The die marker is definitely there.
Live bidding is open and doing very well.
Finest known piece sells for $33,600!
Keep an eye on the other pieces coming up.
i wasn't logged and missed the action
33,600 seems very strong
Indeed.
Doesn't look MS69 to me. I see some spots and wear around the rim. But I don't know anything about grading Sacs.
Here is
the one from PCGS Photograde (obverse) MS69 for comparison.
The reverse (not the Cheerios tail obviously, this is the regular reverse
Notice the tiny scratch on her Tunic (dress) and more on the reverse?
Live bidding on this group to begin soon.
More strong prices. I wonder if the interest in the gold Space coins, which have the same detailed tail feathers as the Cheerios coins, is dragging these upwards?
Last batch goes live tomorrow.
Good luck!
I realize this has been discussed before but let's dig a little deeper. I should probably start a new thread on this, oh well.
I've been doing some more research (or trying to do some more research) on these Cheerios dollars. Not 100% sure how accurate this will be. It's just some unofficial number crunching.
Been looking at all the pop reports; ANACS, NGC, PCGS, CAC. eBay recent sales, NorthEast auctions, GC auctions and Heritage Auctions. All these pop report numbers added up, don't come close to the 5,500 apparently minted.
The vast and overwhelming majority of these coin (in the pop reports and sold) are high mint state, mostly 67 & 68's! Which tells me very few actually made it into real circulation and used for commerce. Stories of kids breaking them out and spending them?....and still floating around in circulation?.. If so, very few have been discovered from circulation. It's been 25 years. The 2000-P common date Sacagawea's I'm seeing in circulation today are pretty much all in the AU range or less. (When I say circulation, I don't mean I'm finding them in pocket change or commerce. I'm finding them in costumer rolls and boxes from banks.)
Again, where are they all? If you're a dealer (or any collector for that matter) and have or think you have a raw Cheerios dollars in your inventory, wouldn't you submit them for grading?? Or maybe the owners of these Cheerios dollars are just keeping them in the original cereal box wrappers.... I don't know!
I'm sure there has been, but I don't ever recall seeing (unless I'm missing it) raw cheerios dollars for sale or sold at auctions.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
The Cheerios box says 'one in every 2000 boxes is a golden dollar coin winner'. They advertise 10,000,000 cents, which I'm assuming is the total number of boxes since every box has at least a cent. 10,000,000 divided by 2,000 would be 5,000 dollars not 5,500 dollars. What am I missing with the 5,500 mintage?
Maybe they decided to sweeten the odds?
I suspect that was a bit of rounding. The side of the box says "5,500 First Prizes. Each First Prize if a United States circulating golden dollar coin. Odds of winning first prize **approximately ** one in two thousand. Since the theme of the contest was coinage dated 2,000 (and yes, the Millennium was a big deal at the time) "One in 2,000" sounds better than "One in 1,818.18!"
You're right, the side of the box does say 5,500. That makes sense to advertise it as one in 2,000 at the time.
Has anyone ever seen one of the 100 coin prize certificates? There were supposedly 2,500 of them. I wonder how many of those were redeemed and if any are left.
Until this thread, I had no idea what these “Cheerios dollars”
were/are… never heard of them. And I’ve been collecting early American coins for decades. Funny, how we pigeonhole ourselves into our areas of numismatic interest, to the exclusion of others.
I have never seen one. I can see somebody tossing a dollar and cent two-coin holder in a sock drawer, but I can't see anybody keeping the certificate rather than turning it in for 100 dollar coins.
I need another reality check. Am I way off base by this below statement?
I realize this has been discussed before but let's dig a little deeper. I should probably start a new thread on this, oh well.
I've been doing some more research (or trying to do some more research) on these Cheerios dollars. Not 100% sure how accurate this will be. It's just some unofficial number crunching.
Been looking at all the pop reports; ANACS, NGC, PCGS, CAC. eBay recent sales, NorthEast auctions, GC auctions and Heritage Auctions. All these pop report numbers added up, don't come close to the 5,500 apparently minted.
The vast and overwhelming majority of these coin (in the pop reports and sold) are high mint state, mostly 67 & 68's! Which tells me very few actually made it into real circulation and used for commerce. Stories of kids breaking them out and spending them?....and still floating around in circulation?.. If so, very few have been discovered from circulation. It's been 25 years. The 2000-P common date Sacagawea's I'm seeing in circulation today are pretty much all in the AU range or less. (When I say circulation, I don't mean I'm finding them in pocket change or commerce. I'm finding them in costumer rolls and boxes from banks.)
Again, where are they all? If you're a dealer (or any collector for that matter) and have or think you have a raw Cheerios dollars in your inventory, wouldn't you submit them for grading?? Or maybe the owners of these Cheerios dollars are just keeping them in the original cereal box wrappers.... I don't know!
I'm sure there has been, but I don't ever recall seeing (unless I'm missing it) raw cheerios dollars for sale or sold at auctions.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
there's over a billion 2000 sacs
where are they?
That's not very helpful.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
not trying to provoke anything but thought regarding where 5,500 went
i would think they'd come out of sock drawers but it's only been 25 years
spent? forget about seeing 5,000 in the wild when 1 billion 2000 sacs were minted.
they stopped making prezzibucks for circulation because the sm $s were taking up space in fed res vaults. they don't circulate.
Let’s look at this from a different angle.
What percentage of all Americans are coin collectors of some sort?
What percentage of collectors could recognize a raw circulated Cheerios dollar if they got it in change at Starbucks?
We are a small circle of people who care. The vast majority of the world doesn’t.
Agree with you both.
Where are a 5,500 or 1 billion Sacs? They are not in circulation, at least not in my neck of the woods that's for sure. Sitting in bank vaults, at Looms or at Brinks? The only way I'm getting them is asking for rolls or boxes at banks.
You're exactly right. A minuscule insignificant number of us are the only ones beating the bushes on this.
Thanks again for the reality check on this. I need to be reminded every now and then. Maybe one day the dam will break on these things and surprise us all.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )