1866-S $20 (1866-S Double Eagle) No Motto, NGC XF45. This lightly circulated, western branch mint, No Motto 1866-S Double Eagle is special because this is the coin that was supposed to have the motto added. The coin was well struck as seen from detail remaining in the centers of the stars and the design elements of the reverse. The dentils are full on both sides as well. Hints of mint luster remain in protected areas. The prongs of the coronet show plainly, in keeping with the grade.

Initiated by the Reverend M.R. Watkinson of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, public pressure on Congress caused a revision in the coinage law. The act required that all coins large enough to hold it be required to have the motto IN GOD WE TRUST added. James B. Longacre, designer of the Liberty Head or Coronet Double Eagle added it to the reverse by enlarging the oval of stars and placing the motto within in.

In 1866 new dies were shipped to San Francisco to make the new reverse for the Motto Added coins. However, the new dies did not reach San Francisco on time, and 120,000 1866-S, No Motto coins were struck.

Originally all of the United States coinage was secular. However, in the first sixty or so years of the United States existence, religious life became more important to the populace. By 1860, twenty-three percent of the population belonged to a church or had some kind of religious affiliation. Groups such as the National Reform Association wanted to amend the Constitution to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the source of all power and authority in government. The amendment was unsuccessful; however, the sentiment to bring religion into government remained strong. President Abraham Lincoln chose James Pollock to be the Mint Director in 1861. He served until 1867. Pollock was in favor of the idea that the nation depended on the will of God. Reverend Watkinson was the first person who actually addressed this need. He believed that adding the name of God to our coinage would, relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism[and] place us openly under the divine protection. The Coinage Act of 1865 created the authority to place the motto on all coins. In 1866 it was placed on the half eagle, the eagle and most of the double eagles as well as on silver coinage and the shield nickel. It wasnt until the newly designed double eagles of Augusts Saint-Gaudens that the motto was briefly omitted in 1907 because of President Theodore Roosevelts objection to it.