How to Tell if a Sacagawea Coin Is Counterfeit

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Plus, learn why so many fakes are on the market in the first place

Co-authored by Max Hockley and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: September 2, 2026 Fact Checked

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Fake Sacagawea Coin Signs

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Real Coin Characteristics

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How much are real Sacagawea coins worth?

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History of Counterfeit Sacagawea Coins

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More Coin-Related Articles

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If you come across a Sacagawea coin that seems off, you may write it off and think to yourself, “It’s just a dollar coin, who would fake it?” Well, we’ve got news for you. There are plenty of counterfeit Sacagawea coins out there, and we’re here to help you determine if yours is one of them. Read on for a list of signs that your Sacagawea coin is fake, characteristics of real Sacagawea coins, an explanation of why there are so many fakes, and more!

Identifying a Fake Sacagawea Coin

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An illustration comparing the characteristics of a fake Sacagawea coin to a real one.

Check the weight: Sacagawea coins that weigh much more or less than 8.1 grams are fake.
Study the details: Sacagawea’s face and the reverse eagle should have fine, polished details.
Check for a copper color: Standard Sacagawea coins are gold-colored due to their unique manganese brass construction. A copper-colored coin is a sign of a fake.
Test the material: Real coins have a copper core and manganese brass shell that’s made up of 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese, and 4% nickel.

Section 1 of 5:

Signs You Have a Fake Sacagawea Coin

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1
It weighs much more (or less) than 8.1 grams. The weight is the biggest tell of a fake Sacagawea coin, as an authentic Sacagawea coin weighs 8.1 grams. A genuine coin's weight can slightly drop as the coin circulates due to standard wear and tear, but if you weigh your coin and notice that it’s severely underweight or way over 8.1 grams, you definitely have a fake on your hands.
- How to Identify: Weigh your Sacagawea coin on a scale. If it’s severely above or below 8.1 grams, it’s a fake.
2
The face and eagle are poorly detailed. On the obverse of the coin, Sacagawea should be pictured from the head down to just below the shoulder, with a full-haired infant in her hood. On the reverse of the coin, the eagle should have detailed wings with etched feathers that stretch to the outside lettering. If you see a lack of detail, a head that’s too big or small, or a baby without hair, you likely have a fake.
- How to Identify: Compare your coin to a photo of an authentic one and look for detail differences, like poorly composed wings or a face that’s smaller or larger than it should be.
- Some Sacagawea coins have finer details than others. In 2000, General Mills partnered with the U.S. Mint to produce unique Cheerio-branded Sacagawea coins, and they were much more detailed than the standard Sacagawea coin.^{[1]
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- Even though not all Sacagawea coins are as detailed as the Cheerio-branded coins, authentic Sacagawea coins still have fine details that are hard to replicate.
- The lettering and edges may also be poorly detailed, so compare those elements to an authentic Sacagawea coin if you’re having trouble determining if your coin is real or not.
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3
It’s colored copper instead of gold. Though Sacagawea coins aren’t made of gold, they have a golden color. Fake Sacagawea coins tend to have a different color than real Sacagawea coins, which is due to the real coin’s use of manganese brass.^{[2]
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Research source} So, if you have your hands on a Sacagawea coin and notice that it has more of a rusted copper color, that may be because counterfeiters made it with cheaper metals.
- How to Identify: Compare your coin to a photo of an authentic one. If yours doesn't match the gold color of the genuine coin, you may have a fake.
- However, keep in mind that the color of real coins can change over time due to toning, which is when coins oxidize and their metal interacts with outside substances and oxygen.^{[3]
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- Toning typically occurs over a long period of time and results in different colors across a genuine coin, such as gray, brown, blue, and a dirty golden-yellow.
4
The material diverges from the standard layers of copper, zinc, manganese, and nickel. Real Sacagawea coins have a three-layer construction of pure copper sandwiched between manganese brass. The manganese brass is made up of 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese, and 4% nickel, so if you test the coin and it doesn’t come back with that construction, it’s likely fake.^{[4]
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- How to Identify: Reach out to a professional authenticator to get the coins tested for composition and structure. Authenticators use methods that aren’t readily available at home, like spectroscopic analysis and X-ray fluorescence.

Section 2 of 5:

Real Sacagawea Coin Characteristics

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These traits are widely known to be telltale markers of real Sacagawea coins, especially the weight. While counterfeiters tend to get the thickness and diameter right, they often mess up the weight of the coins. So, if you have a coin that fits all of these characteristics, you likely have an authentic one on your hands.^{[5]
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EXPERT TIP

Max Hockley
Numismatics and Precious Metals Expert
Max Hockley is a numismatics expert based in New York City. With over 15 years of experience collecting coins, he is the creator of the Silverpicker YouTube channel, where he informs, educates, and entertains people about numismatics, precious metals stacking, and personal finance. His channel has over 238K subscribers on YouTube. Max has been creating content on YouTube since 2011, and frequently teaches his subscribers about making money from buying precious metals and coins. He received a BA in Philosophy and Chinese and an MBA from Emory University.

Max Hockley
Numismatics and Precious Metals Expert

Weighing and measuring the coin will help determine if it’s real. If you suspect that you have a fake Sacagawea coin on your hands, weigh it, measure the diameter, and measure the thickness. If it matches the standard specs of a regular Sacagawea coin, then it’s most likely real.
This construction is also a telltale sign of whether or not your Sacagawea coin is real. Real coins sandwich pure copper between outer layers of manganese brass (an alloy made of 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese, and 4% nickel), which are the reason for its iconic golden color.^{[6]
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Sacagawea stands and looks back with a baby in her hood on the obverse of the coin. The baby has a full head of hair and comfortably sits in the hood. On the reverse of the coin, an eagle with detailed, outstretched wings seemingly soars toward the sky.
As the Sacagawea golden dollar circulates, the darker “patina” crust on the high points of the coin may wear off, creating bright highlights that contrast with the worn, darkened brass. This gives the coin an antique finish that contributes to its striking look.^{[7]
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Section 3 of 5:

How much are real Sacagawea coins worth?

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Sacagawea coins don’t really fluctuate in price unless you have a rare version, like the Cheerios Sacagawea coin, or one with errors, like the 2000 double denomination mule coin that printed Sacagawea’s head on the obverse and George Washington’s head on the reverse. These coins, if authenticated, can sell for thousands of dollars due to how few are in circulation.

Section 4 of 5:

Why are there so many fake Sacagawea coins?

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In 2002, a Colombian operation was discovered to have struck up to one million counterfeit Sacagawea coins, all of which were intended for circulation in Ecuador (as the country regularly uses dollar coins). Fewer than 6,000 counterfeit coins were recovered during a raid on the production factory, and many of the rest had already been distributed across the country.