2nd Sacagawea dollar reverse unveiled

U.S. Mint Reveals 2010 Native American $1 Coin, Interest Still Slight

By Jason HicksThe United States Mint has revealed a new design for the Native American $1 Coin in 2010 based on the theme “Government—The Great Tree of Peace.”

The new coin depicts the Hiawatha Belt and five arrows bound together, with the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “$1,” “Haudenosaunee” and “Great Law of Peace.”

The Hiawatha Belt is a visual record of the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, with five symbols representing the five original Nations.Comment:  This is a great design--better than the first $1 reverse featuring Native agriculture. The belt encircling the arrows really "pops" as a vivid, three-dimensional image.

My only complaint is the font, again. Which is ironic since it's the same font, Austere, that I used for the PEACE PARTY logo. But I think the point is still valid.

When you use the font alone, or with a modern image, it conveys a feeling of age and ethnicity. But on the coin, the sharp, angular lettering looks like Stone-Age carving compared to the Hiawatha Belt. It makes the image feel lost in the past, like something associated with the Flintstones.

The coin really wants to convey that the symbols are modern and still relevant today. The way to do that is with a modern font. I don't know which fonts other US coins use, but I bet they include Times Roman and other fonts with noble, patrician, Latin-sounding names. One of these fonts would be best for the reverse of these coins too.

No doubt the US Mint won't change the coins' font in midstream. But I'm just saying. The coins are nice but could've been even better.

For more on the Haudenosaunee tree of peace, see Oneidas Don't Care About Peace?! and NMAI Float in Macy's Parade. For more on the dollar, see Sacagawea Dollar's Reverse Unveiled and New Design for Sacagawea Dollar.