I finally squished my hefty derriere in between two mack truck-like cameramen to get you, my Constant Reader, a picture of these wondrous treasures. (Included in the picture at no extra charge are several more photographers.) As for the wondrous treasures, they look just like golden Sacagawea Dollars. I mean, the regular kind of golden dollar, not the gold kind of golden dollar.
As the story goes, the U.S. Mint struck 39 of these stunning beauties out of solid 22 karat gold at the West Point Mint, even endowing the coins with the coveted "W" mint mark. Then the Mint had a few of their experts sort through this minuscule mintage of 25, searching for the best 12 coins. Eventually, these lucky dozen specimens got a ride into space via the space shuttle Columbia (presumably before the tragedy, but with the U.S. Mint involved, who knows?) ;) Okay, okay, that was just a joke! The U.S. Mint would never lie to us about anything, would it? Especially not something important like whether coins that collectors will never get to own really went into space or not! Anyway, I digress...
The space shuttle Sacagaweas have been safely locked away in Fort Knox ever since their nearly two million mile journey orbiting the earth 250 or so times. Their original purpose was to help promote the sales of Sacagawea Dollars struck in gold for bullion investors, but the plans to strike gold bullion based Sacagaweas was scrapped. The particular space shuttle mission that the coins flew aboard was chosen because it was the first time a woman had commanded a space shuttle flight.
Apparently, with no plans to strike gold bullion Sacs, and little interest in who was piloting the space shuttle from flight to flight, the 22 karat Sacagaweas simply got stashed away in Fort Knox indefinitely. It makes me wonder what other numismatic treasures are gathering dust in government vaults here and there.
As the story goes, the U.S. Mint struck 39 of these stunning beauties out of solid 22 karat gold at the West Point Mint, even endowing the coins with the coveted "W" mint mark. Then the Mint had a few of their experts sort through this minuscule mintage of 25, searching for the best 12 coins. Eventually, these lucky dozen specimens got a ride into space via the space shuttle Columbia (presumably before the tragedy, but with the U.S. Mint involved, who knows?) ;) Okay, okay, that was just a joke! The U.S. Mint would never lie to us about anything, would it? Especially not something important like whether coins that collectors will never get to own really went into space or not! Anyway, I digress...
The space shuttle Sacagaweas have been safely locked away in Fort Knox ever since their nearly two million mile journey orbiting the earth 250 or so times. Their original purpose was to help promote the sales of Sacagawea Dollars struck in gold for bullion investors, but the plans to strike gold bullion based Sacagaweas was scrapped. The particular space shuttle mission that the coins flew aboard was chosen because it was the first time a woman had commanded a space shuttle flight.
Apparently, with no plans to strike gold bullion Sacs, and little interest in who was piloting the space shuttle from flight to flight, the 22 karat Sacagaweas simply got stashed away in Fort Knox indefinitely. It makes me wonder what other numismatic treasures are gathering dust in government vaults here and there.