- The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States
coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during
the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many
appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United
States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department
records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November
13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister
of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read: Dear Sir: You are
about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs
of the national finances.
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- One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously
overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on
our coins.
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- You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were
not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding
centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What
I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next
inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within
the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American
flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united;
in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.
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- This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible
citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism.
This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally
claimed. >From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning
God as not the least of our present national disasters.
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- To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.
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- As a result, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock,
Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated
November 20, 1861:
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- Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength
of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should
be declared on our national coins.
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- You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary
delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible
this national recognition.
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- It was found that the Act of Congress dated January 18,
1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the
coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes
without the enactment of additional legislation by the Congress. In December
1863, the Director of the Mint submitted designs for new one-cent coin,
two-cent coin, and three-cent coin to Secretary Chase for approval. He
proposed that upon the designs either OUR COUNTRY; OUR GOD or GOD, OUR
TRUST should appear as a motto on the coins. In a letter to the Mint Director
on December 9, 1863, Secretary Chase stated:
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- I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that
with the Washington obverse the motto should begin with the word OUR, so
as to read OUR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it should
be changed so as to read: IN GOD WE TRUST.
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- The Congress passed the Act of April 22, 1864. This legislation
changed the composition of the one-cent coin and authorized the minting
of the two-cent coin. The Mint Director was directed to develop the designs
for these coins for final approval of the Secretary. IN GOD WE TRUST first
appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.
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- Another Act of Congress passed on March 3, 1865. It allowed
the Mint Director, with the Secretary's approval, to place the motto on
all gold and silver coins that "shall admit the inscription thereon."
Under the Act, the motto was placed on the gold double-eagle coin, the
gold eagle coin, and the gold half-eagle coin. It was also placed on the
silver dollar coin, the half-dollar coin and the quarter-dollar coin, and
on the nickel three-cent coin beginning in 1866. Later, Congress passed
the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873. It also said that the Secretary "may
cause the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to be inscribed on such coins as shall
admit of such motto."
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- The use of IN GOD WE TRUST has not been uninterrupted.
The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883, and did not reappear
until production of the Jefferson nickel began in 1938. Since 1938, all
United States coins bear the inscription. Later, the motto was found missing
from the new design of the double-eagle gold coin and the eagle gold coin
shortly after they appeared in 1907. In response to a general demand, Congress
ordered it restored, and the Act of May 18, 1908, made it mandatory on
all coins upon which it had previously appeared. IN GOD WE TRUST was not
mandatory on the one-cent coin and five-cent coin. It could be placed on
them by the Secretary or the Mint Director with the Secretary's approval.
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- The motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent
coin since 1909, and on the ten-cent coin since 1916. It also has appeared
on all gold coins and silver dollar coins, half-dollar coins, and quarter-dollar
coins struck since July 1, 1908.
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- A law passed by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved
by the President on July 30, 1956, the President approved a Joint Resolution
of the 84th Congress, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the
United States. IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957, when
it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate. The first paper currency
bearing the motto entered circulation on October 1, 1957. The Bureau of
Engraving and Printing (BEP) was converting to the dry intaglio printing
process. During this conversion, it gradually included IN GOD WE TRUST
in the back design of all classes and denominations of currency.
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- As a part of a comprehensive modernization program the
BEP successfully developed and installed new high-speed rotary intaglio
printing presses in 1957. These allowed BEP to print currency by the dry
intaglio process, 32 notes to the sheet. One-dollar silver certificates
were the first denomination printed on the new high-speed presses. They
included IN GOD WE TRUST as part of the reverse design as BEP adopted new
dies according to the law. The motto also appeared on one-dollar silver
certificates of the 1957-A and 1957-B series.
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- BEP prints United States paper currency by an intaglio
process from engraved plates. It was necessary, therefore, to engrave the
motto into the printing plates as a part of the basic engraved design to
give it the prominence it deserved.
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- One-dollar silver certificates series 1935, 1935-A, 1935-B,
1935-C, 1935-D, 1935-E, 1935-F, 1935-G, and 1935-H were all printed on
the older flat-bed presses by the wet intaglio process. P.L. 84-140 recognized
that an enormous expense would be associated with immediately replacing
the costly printing plates. The law allowed BEP to gradually convert to
the inclusion of IN GOD WE TRUST on the currency. Accordingly, the motto
is not found on series 1935-E and 1935-F one-dollar notes. By September
1961, IN GOD WE TRUST had been added to the back design of the Series 1935-G
notes. Some early printings of this series do not bear the motto. IN GOD
WE TRUST appears on all series 1935-H one-dollar silver certificates.
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- Below is a listing by denomination of the first production
and delivery dates for currency bearing IN GOD WE TRUST:
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- DENOMINATION PRODUCTION DELIVERY $1 Federal Reserve
Note February 12, 1964 March 11, 1964 $5 United States Note January 23,
1964 March 2, 1964 $5 Federal Reserve Note July 31, 1964 September 16,
1964 $10 Federal Reserve Note February 24, 1964 April 24, 1964 $20 Federal
Reserve Note October 7, 1964 October 7, 1964 $50 Federal Reserve Note August
24, 1966 September 28, 1966 $100 Federal Reserve Note August 18, 1966 September
27, 1966
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- http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.htm
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