The primary person on the modern U.S. dollar coin is Sacagawea , the Shoshone woman who served as an interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition; she has appeared on golden-colored dollar coins since 2000 as part of what is now the Native American $1 Coin Program.

Quick Scoop: Who is on the dollar coin?

Over time, several different faces (and symbols) have appeared on U.S. dollar coins.

  • Sacagawea: Featured on the golden dollar starting in 2000, continued under the Native American $1 Coin series.
  • Susan B. Anthony: On small-sized dollar coins from 1979–1981 and again in 1999.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower: On the large-size dollar coin from 1971–1978.
  • Presidential $1 Coins: Series from 2007–2016 with different U.S. presidents on each coin (from George Washington through Ronald Reagan).
  • Earlier classic dollars: Many 19th–early 20th century silver dollars used Liberty as an allegorical figure, not a real person (e.g., Morgan and Peace dollars).

Simple HTML table of key dollar coins

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Dollar coin type</th>
      <th>Who is on it?</th>
      <th>Years issued (main)</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Eisenhower Dollar</td>
      <td>President Dwight D. Eisenhower[web:1][web:5]</td>
      <td>1971–1978[web:1][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Susan B. Anthony Dollar</td>
      <td>Susan B. Anthony (women’s rights leader)[web:1][web:5]</td>
      <td>1979–1981, 1999[web:1][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Sacagawea / Native American Dollar</td>
      <td>Sacagawea, Shoshone guide with Lewis &amp; Clark[web:1][web:3][web:9]</td>
      <td>2000–present (with changing reverses)[web:1][web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Presidential $1 Coin Program</td>
      <td>Series of U.S. presidents, Washington through Reagan[web:5][web:7]</td>
      <td>2007–2016[web:5][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Morgan Silver Dollar</td>
      <td>Allegorical Liberty[web:5]</td>
      <td>1878–1921[web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Peace Dollar</td>
      <td>Allegorical Liberty with radiant crown[web:5]</td>
      <td>1921–1935[web:5]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

A quick story-style example

Imagine you get change from a ticket machine and see a golden $1 coin with a young woman carrying a baby on her back. That coin shows Sacagawea, honoring her role helping the Lewis and Clark expedition navigate and communicate across unfamiliar lands. If instead you found an older, silver-colored, large dollar from the 1970s, you’d likely see President Eisenhower, linking the coin to the space age with an Apollo 11–themed reverse.

In short, when people today ask “who is on the dollar coin,” they almost always mean Sacagawea on the modern golden dollar, even though U.S. history has put several different figures on $1 coins over the years.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.