Six Finalists Selected for New Dollar Coin

Sacajawea, the Shoshone teenager who accompanied explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Pacific Ocean almost two centuries ago, gazes serenely from a proposed design for the new dollar coin. The design is among six finalists for the gold-colored coin that Americans will find in their pockets starting in 2000. Mint officials culled the designs from 121 submissions after exhibiting them last month to more than 300 invited historians, public officials, artists, coin collectors and representatives of Indian organizations.