ICG—Independent Coin Grading of Englewood, Colorado—graded and encapsulated on December 21, 1999 what is believed to be the first Sacagawea dollar coin to have unofficially gotten outside the Mint. The dollar coin, which is golden in color with a copper hue along its plain edge, was graded by ICG more than two months before its scheduled release to the public in early March 2000. ICG graded the coin MS-65.

According to Keith Love, ICG’s Founder and President, "The Sacagawea coin arrived at ICG this morning (Tuesday, December 21, 1999). You can imagine the surprise and the excitement of all of us when the coin was brought into the grading room."

"The ICG graders unanimously graded it MS-65. The coin was then put into a holder, with the date it was certified by ICG printed on the holder, photographed, and then given to CSS, the third-party receiving company, so it could immediately return the coin to its owner."

Love continued, "The real issue is trust. The owner of this Sacagawa Dollar had a choice in third-party grading services and felt with ICG certification there would be no doubt about this coin being recognized as the first Sacagewa Dollar that was in circulation in 1999."

The coin’s obverse was designed by Glenna Goodacre and features the imagined likeness of Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their trek to the Pacific from St. Louis (1804-06). On Sacagawea’s back is her baby son who was born during the exploration. The reverse depicts a soaring eagle and 17 stars, one for each of the states at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The designer of the reverse is Thomas Rogers Sr., a Sculptor-Engraver at the U.S. Mint.