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2000 p sacagawea dollar cheerios?

Any help with the ID the tail feathers show a lot of detail. Any input would be greatly appreciated

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    World67World67 Posts: 13,088 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You'll have better luck in the coin forum.

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    JBKJBK Posts: 17,462 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You don't have a Cheerios dollar.

    https://www.smalldollars.com/dollar/page20c.html

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    johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 32,442 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wrong forum, just a heads up

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    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 33,877 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Just a normal coin worth one dollar

    Numismatist. 54 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Also won the PNG's Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
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    DesertCoinDesertCoin Posts: 391 ✭✭✭

    Not Cheerios

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    MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 39,478 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There was an earlier thread on a cheerios dollar
    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1121913/2000-p-sacagawea-dollar

    i would like you to stay and ask questions but we get a lot of questions and provide the best info we can

    the first response to the first 2000p cheerios thread gave pictures on how to tell them apart (see below)
    there are hundreds of millions non-cheerios dollars and we can't look at them all. please use the pictures if you find another 2000p dollar

    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/14077674/#Comment_14077674

    .

    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/14077678/#Comment_14077678

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2, 2026 5:03AM

    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @USSID18 said:
    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

    Ecuador

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:
    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

    Ecuador

    General Mills shipped boxes of Cheerios to Ecuador? 🤣 😂

  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:
    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

    Ecuador

    General Mills shipped boxes of Cheerios to Ecuador? 🤣 😂

    No, but once they hit circulation...

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:
    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

    Ecuador

    General Mills shipped boxes of Cheerios to Ecuador? 🤣 😂

    No, but once they hit circulation...

    So they hit circulation here, Ecuadorian's put them in their pockets and walk them back to Ecuador? 🤣 😂 Sure, no way!

  • Options
    bigmountainlionbigmountainlion Posts: 275 ✭✭✭

    Ecuador’s bank and government imports those dollars from us treasury

  • Options
    JBKJBK Posts: 17,462 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2, 2026 7:23AM

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:
    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

    Ecuador

    General Mills shipped boxes of Cheerios to Ecuador? 🤣 😂

    No, but once they hit circulation...

    So they hit circulation here, Ecuadorian's put them in their pockets and walk them back to Ecuador? 🤣 😂 Sure, no way!

    No, the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador since Ecuador had adopted the US dollar as their unit of currency and they liked to use the dollar coins which few people in the US wanted.

  • Options
    TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,033 ✭✭✭✭✭


    Boldly detailed tail feathers. Once you see …..you’ll know

  • Options
    JBKJBK Posts: 17,462 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @USSID18 said:
    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

    Over a billion dollar coins were minted in 2000.

    If you found one in a box of cereal before they became generally available at the banks you might hold onto it as a novelty. After that, why not just spend it? As far as anyone knew at the time it was no different than the billion others. It was several years before the difference was identified.

    There are billions and billions of Sacagawea dollar coins sitting in vaults. You can look there.

  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:
    I know it's been discussed before but I'd still like to know, where are they all?

    Ecuador

    General Mills shipped boxes of Cheerios to Ecuador? 🤣 😂

    No, but once they hit circulation...

    So they hit circulation here, Ecuadorian's put them in their pockets and walk them back to Ecuador? 🤣 😂 Sure, no way!

    Ecuador imported tens of millions of them. The coins have actually circulated widely in Ecuador, far more than in the US.

    I'm sorry you didn't understand the "joke". It was subtle, and only half of a joke. I don't think it would be easy to identify a well worn cheerios and I don't know that anyone in Ecuador is looking.

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @TwoSides2aCoin said:

    Boldly detailed tail feathers. Once you see …..you’ll know

    But what does it look like on a VF coin? Is it still obvious?

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭

    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

  • Options
    TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,033 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @TwoSides2aCoin said:

    Boldly detailed tail feathers. Once you see …..you’ll know

    But what does it look like on a VF coin? Is it still obvious?

    I have a sneaky suspicion the reverse die was so “smoothed”, at the time of production, that finding the crossbones in the tail feathers would still be detectable with the naked eye . Although, I also think not even one specimen was ever delivered
    to Ecuador.

  • Options
    JBKJBK Posts: 17,462 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @TwoSides2aCoin said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @TwoSides2aCoin said:

    Boldly detailed tail feathers. Once you see …..you’ll know

    But what does it look like on a VF coin? Is it still obvious?

    I have a sneaky suspicion the reverse die was so “smoothed”, at the time of production, that finding the crossbones in the tail feathers would still be detectable with the naked eye . Although, I also think not even one specimen was ever delivered
    to Ecuador.

    Idk. But a lot of them were spent, so why couldn't they have ended up there?

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

  • Options
    JBKJBK Posts: 17,462 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

    There's wild speculation and then there's educated speculation. ;)

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2, 2026 12:47PM

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

    There's wild speculation and then there's educated speculation. ;)

    It's the proven one we want. 😉

  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 3, 2026 3:41AM

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

    There's wild speculation and then there's educated speculation. ;)

    It's the proven one we want. 😉

    Once proven, it's not speculation.

    The vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated. Whether they are in Ecuador (which was a joke) or somewhere in the US (vaults, charge drawers, landfills), a lot of them got circulated.

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

    There's wild speculation and then there's educated speculation. ;)

    It's the proven one we want. 😉

    Once proven, it's not speculation.

    The vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated. Whether they are in Ecuador (which was a joke) or somewhere in the US (vaults, charge drawers, landfills), a lot of them got circulated.

    That's the whole point, very little is proven.

    You joke a lot don't you? You say the vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated?.... Really? And you know that for a fact? That's why there are virtually zero circulated coins graded. 99% of them are all mint state graded.

  • Options
    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 33,877 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Even on a low grade coin with the detailed tail feathers away, you would still be able to identify the pattern reverse by this lobster-claw-like pair of feathers just below the eagles "ankles" and further down as part of the outline of the bird. The one just below the "ankles" is very obvious and well protected.

    Pointed out to me by collector Dennis Smith. His picture.

    Numismatist. 54 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Also won the PNG's Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
  • Options
    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 33,877 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Screencap of a random coin from eBay showing the "lobster claw" feathers seen on the pattern reverse.

    Numismatist. 54 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Also won the PNG's Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 4, 2026 2:01AM

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

    There's wild speculation and then there's educated speculation. ;)

    It's the proven one we want. 😉

    Once proven, it's not speculation.

    The vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated. Whether they are in Ecuador (which was a joke) or somewhere in the US (vaults, charge drawers, landfills), a lot of them got circulated.

    That's the whole point, very little is proven.

    You joke a lot don't you? You say the vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated?.... Really? And you know that for a fact? That's why there are virtually zero circulated coins graded. 99% of them are all mint state graded.

    I'm 95% certain. There was not a treasure hunt for cheerios at first release. If you were a kid who discovered a dollar in a box of cereal, what would you do with it?

    There was 5 years between the cereal promotion and the discovery of the variety. Why would kids have saved them?

    I would also point out that, unless they did go to Exuador, even the coins that were spent were probably still uncirculated. They generally don't circulate enough to wear much.

    It's all speculative. No one knows or they wouldn't be missing. Certainly some are raw in collections. But a lot must have been spent during the 5 years that no one knew they existed.

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭

    @CaptHenway said:
    Even on a low grade coin with the detailed tail feathers away, you would still be able to identify the pattern reverse by this lobster-claw-like pair of feathers just below the eagles "ankles" and further down as part of the outline of the bird. The one just below the "ankles" is very obvious and well protected.

    Pointed out to me by collector Dennis Smith. His picture.

    Excellent point and indicator but the question still remains, where are all the low "graded" Cheerios dollars? Unless I'm missing it, I don't see any.

    Here's a couple of lowball Philly's that might be hard to ID as Cheerios dollars.

  • Options
    USSID18USSID18 Posts: 333 ✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

    There's wild speculation and then there's educated speculation. ;)

    It's the proven one we want. 😉

    Once proven, it's not speculation.

    The vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated. Whether they are in Ecuador (which was a joke) or somewhere in the US (vaults, charge drawers, landfills), a lot of them got circulated.

    That's the whole point, very little is proven.

    You joke a lot don't you? You say the vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated?.... Really? And you know that for a fact? That's why there are virtually zero circulated coins graded. 99% of them are all mint state graded.

    I'm 95% certain. There was not a treasure hunt for cheerios at first release. If you were a kid who discovered a dollar in a box of cereal, what would you do with it?

    There was 5 years between the cereal promotion and the discovery of the variety. Why would kids have saved them?

    I would also point out that, unless they did go to Exuador, even the coins that were spent were probably still uncirculated. They generally don't circulate enough to wear much.

    It's all speculative. No one knows or they wouldn't be missing. Certainly some are raw in collections. But a lot must have been spent during the 5 years that no one knew they existed.

    So the consensus is the U.S. gov't shipped millions of these coins to Ecuador or Central America. These coins have apparently been used heavily down there in circulation and commerce everyday for the past 26 years. Not only that, the Ecuadorian people apparently love the coins because Sacagawea heavily resembles the traditional woven shawls (known as quepinas) worn by indigenous Andean woman.

    I've search boxes and boxes, "thousands" of these dollar coins over the past few years. (I know, I need a life. 😂) I'm guessing, the coins shipped the Ecuador were from Denver. Why am I guessing?.. Because the overwhelming majority of these heavily circulated coins all have Denver mint marks. The Cheerios dollar is a Philly coin not Denver.

    Someone is going to say: How do you know these coins weren't circulated here in the states? I can't prove they haven't been. I'm just using process of elimination and logic. We all know these small dollar coins were never popular with the general public here. You're right @jmlanzaf "They generally don't circulate enough to wear much"... Exactly my point.

    Another question: What % of the American public do you think are even aware of this Cheerios dollar?? I would say 1% would be extremely high. Ask any of your "non-numismatic" friends: What's a Cheerios dollar?.. No rush, get back with me on the answer. 😂

    So why am I finding these in circulated boxes? With the open boarder policy of the last Administration, there's no doubt in my mind these coins were walking and flying their way back into our country in the pockets of illegal aliens!

    As you can see, I'm serious about these coins. I'm not messing or "joking" around!

  • Options
    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 41,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 5, 2026 7:28AM

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:

    @JBK said:

    @USSID18 said:
    @bigmountainlion @JBK

    That all makes sense but "Cheerios" dollars? I know the Sacagawea bust on the dollar looks like an Ecuadorian woman or any Central American woman. I believe that's why they like them down there.

    So the US government shipped millions of dollar coins to Ecuador... okay, got it!... But not one of them were the enhanced tail feather cheerios dollars. Those all went in Cheerios boxes.. not shipped to Ecuador.

    How do you know that?

    I personally suspect that they might have used new production to fill the Ecuadoran orders, in which case they would not have sent Cheerios dollars. But I have seen nothing to prove that, so if they pulled coins from the fed or banks then there could have been some Cheerios dollars.

    I do know that SBAs were not sent and since the banks/fed did not routinely differentiate or sort for coin type, that would support the idea that only new production was used for Ecuador. (When I say "new production" I mean solid rolls/bags of new coins that were in storage).

    On a serious note. Someone said that unslabbed/ungraded/raw Cheerios dollars are being held in private collections. If that's true, what would be the justification "NOT" to get them graded? If any of you thought you had a Cheerios dollar, wouldn't the first thing you do is get it graded??

    I have no idea which "someone" made that claim but it's most likely just idle speculation. Whether they didn't properly frame the proposed scenario or maybe you didn't hear it correctly, who knows. But I suspect there are more than a few Cheerios dollars sitting around in kitchen drawers or kids' toy boxes without the owners knowing what the significance if them is. I doubt many serious coin collectors have raw Cheerios dollars lying around.

    I hear and see a lot of speculation in both our comments.

    There's wild speculation and then there's educated speculation. ;)

    It's the proven one we want. 😉

    Once proven, it's not speculation.

    The vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated. Whether they are in Ecuador (which was a joke) or somewhere in the US (vaults, charge drawers, landfills), a lot of them got circulated.

    That's the whole point, very little is proven.

    You joke a lot don't you? You say the vast majority of the "missing" coins were circulated?.... Really? And you know that for a fact? That's why there are virtually zero circulated coins graded. 99% of them are all mint state graded.

    I'm 95% certain. There was not a treasure hunt for cheerios at first release. If you were a kid who discovered a dollar in a box of cereal, what would you do with it?

    There was 5 years between the cereal promotion and the discovery of the variety. Why would kids have saved them?

    I would also point out that, unless they did go to Exuador, even the coins that were spent were probably still uncirculated. They generally don't circulate enough to wear much.

    It's all speculative. No one knows or they wouldn't be missing. Certainly some are raw in collections. But a lot must have been spent during the 5 years that no one knew they existed.

    So the consensus is the U.S. gov't shipped millions of these coins to Ecuador or Central America. These coins have apparently been used heavily down there in circulation and commerce everyday for the past 26 years. Not only that, the Ecuadorian people apparently love the coins because Sacagawea heavily resembles the traditional woven shawls (known as quepinas) worn by indigenous Andean woman.

    I've search boxes and boxes, "thousands" of these dollar coins over the past few years. (I know, I need a life. 😂) I'm guessing, the coins shipped the Ecuador were from Denver. Why am I guessing?.. Because the overwhelming majority of these heavily circulated coins all have Denver mint marks. The Cheerios dollar is a Philly coin not Denver.

    Someone is going to say: How do you know these coins weren't circulated here in the states? I can't prove they haven't been. I'm just using process of elimination and logic. We all know these small dollar coins were never popular with the general public here. You're right @jmlanzaf "They generally don't circulate enough to wear much"... Exactly my point.

    Another question: What % of the American public do you think are even aware of this Cheerios dollar?? I would say 1% would be extremely high. Ask any of your "non-numismatic" friends: What's a Cheerios dollar?.. No rush, get back with me on the answer. 😂

    So why am I finding these in circulated boxes? With the open boarder policy of the last Administration, there's no doubt in my mind these coins were walking and flying their way back into our country in the pockets of illegal aliens!

    As you can see, I'm serious about these coins. I'm not messing or "joking" around!

    Sigh...again, Ecuador was largely a joke - although it is possible.

    The general consensus is probably that a lot of them entered circulation. Again, there was a 5 year window before anyone even knew to look for them. Seems like spending a buck is a natural activity for a kid who finds a buck in his cereal. As a kid, I certainly spent all the cash that I got in the mail (they used to put a nickel or dime for postage in solicitations, for example, or they would send a "lucky penny"). And I did that even though I was a collector, because there was nothing that looked special about any of it.

    Since you reject that premise, you only have three options: they are in landfills, they are raw in collections, or there's a lot of unopened cereal boxes in a warehouse. Take whatever combination of the four options that makes you happy.

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • Options
    JBKJBK Posts: 17,462 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 5, 2026 5:21PM

    What happened to most Cheerios dollars has never been a mystery to me. They were spent.

    They were a novelty for a few months when they were first distributed in Cheerios boxes and then after that they were just spending money.

    If someone collected numismatic ephemera or marketing materials they might have kept a sealed example in their collection. (I have a couple Cheerios cents that I saved that way.) If someone saved all the freebies that often came in cereal boxes then they might have saved one in original packaging. (I have a few Matchbox cars that I saved in original packaging).

    As for the majority of Cheerios dollars, where are they at this very moment? They're with the over one billion other 2000-dated Sacagawea dollars.

  • Options
    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 33,877 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Having been a 10 year old boy myself back when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, had I gotten one of these in a cereal box BEFORE I started collecting coins I would have spent it up at the corner candy store. It would have been just another dollar to me.

    Numismatist. 54 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Also won the PNG's Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.

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