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A collectible dollar in which the familiar figure of Sacagawea opens a fresh theme each year. The theme of this issue is "Wampanoag Treaty of 1621".
Obverse
The obverse shows a portrait of Sacagawea — a young Shoshone woman, guide of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, carrying her infant son Jean-Baptiste on her back. Flanking it are LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. It is the most recognizable image of the series, unchanged since 2000. The inscription and portrait set a solemn, recognizable tone for the whole series.
Reverse
The 2011 reverse is a miniature of its own: it depicts the hands of Supreme Sachem Ousamequin and Plymouth Governor John Carver holding a ceremonial peace pipe — marking the first written peace alliance between the Wampanoag and the settlers in 1621. Around the rim are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination $1, while the year and the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM are lettered on the edge. The relief catches the light as the coin is turned.
Historical context
The series-wide obverse depicts Sacagawea — a young Lemhi Shoshone woman born around 1788 in what is now Idaho. Captured by a rival tribe as a girl, she later became the wife of the trader Toussaint Charbonneau and, already pregnant, joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition in February 1805. Carrying her infant son Jean-Baptiste on her back, she took on the roles of interpreter, guide and peacemaker, without whom the party could hardly have reached the Pacific. Sacagawea became one of the most honored women in U.S. history — with more monuments dedicated to her than to any other American woman.
The 2011 reverse commemorates the 1621 treaty between the Wampanoag people and the Plymouth settlers. The coin shows the hands of Supreme Sachem Ousamequin and Governor John Carver holding a ceremonial peace pipe. It was one of the first written peace alliances between Native Americans and Europeans, securing a fragile concord for decades. Those same events are tied to the tradition of the first Thanksgiving. Equally suited to a beginning collector and a seasoned numismatist.