Is a Sacagawea gold dollar coin really made out of gold?

Answer 1

Nope.

The core of a Sacagawea is 100% copper, while the cladding is 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese and 2% nickel.

If you think about it for, oh, a second or two, Sacajawea dollars weigh about 8 grams. In the 2010s gold has sold for over $1500 a troy ounce (31.1 gm) so it it were real gold it would be worth nearly $400. Not even the most brain-dead government bureaucrat would authorize minting and distribution of a coin that cost the government 385 times more than its face value.

Answer 2

All Sacajawea dollar coins and Presidential dollar coins have the same composition, outer layers of manganese brass bonded to an inner core of copper. The combined percentages of metals are:

88.5% Copper
6% Zinc
3.5% Manganese
2% Nickel

Answer 3

It depends.

$1 coins made of 90% gold and 10% copper were issued from 1849 to 1889. They were removed from circulation long ago.

Modern "golden" dollars made since 2000 are actually copper with outer layers of manganese brass; they don't have any precious metal in them at all. In fact, if you melted one the metal in it is only worth 10 to 15 cents.

Answer 4

Copper,zinc,nickel & manganese