Mintage:
Circulation strikes: 500,000
Proofs: 0

Designer: 

Diameter: 1.500±.003 inches

Metal Content:
Silver - 90%
Copper - 10%

Weight: 26.73 grams

Edge: 

Mintmark: "D" (for Denver, Colorado)

Images courtesy of the United States Mint

Notes:
Signed by the President William Jefferson Clinton on October, 27, 2000, Public Law 106-375 authorizes the United States Mint to produce coins in commemoration of the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).

The American Buffalo Silver Dollar design is based on the original 5-cent Buffalo nickel, as designed by James Earle Fraser and minted from 1913 through 1938. Mr. Fraser (1876-1953), one of America's most renowned sculptors and medallic artists, was a student of another famous American sculptor-Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The silver dollar portrays a profile representation of a Native American on the obverse side and a representation of an American buffalo on the reverse side. This is a distinctive and appropriate coin to commemorate the National Museum of the American Indian.

The Mint began accepting mail, fax and phone orders for this coin on June 7, 2001 and Internet order on June 11.  By June 21, 2001, the entire issue of 500,000 coins was sold out.

This coin was offered in Proof for $37 ($33 pre-issue), Uncirculated for $32 ($30 pre-issue), in a two-coin set that included an Uncirculated and a Proof example for $64.95 ($59.95 pre-issue), and in a "Coinage and Currency Set" for $59.95 ($54.95 pre-issue).

Sources and/or recommended reading:
U.S. Mint website at www.money.org

Numismatic News, July 3, 2001