1866/1908:
What happened to “In
God We Trust”? By
Mike Sussman
Believe
it or not we live in a God
fearing country. I have proof.
God is mentioned on all of
our country’s coinage.
But it hasn’t always
been that way. Weren’t
the founding fathers God fearing
men? Weren’t Washington
and Jefferson believers? When
did God first appear on our
coins and why?
The
founding fathers believed
in God; however, they did
not feel that it was the government’s
obligation to mention God
on our coinage. They probably
felt that the new government
should not involve itself
in matters of religion. The
First Amendment says: “Congress
shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof.” This Amendment
prevents the government from
establishing a religion, and
it prohibits government aid
to any religion. It also protects
the right of an individual
to choose to worship or not
worship as he or she sees
fit.
In
matters of coinage the precepts
in the First Amendment meant
that the word God would not
appear on a coin. From the
earliest federal issues in
1793 until 1863, God was not
included on our coinage. Then
in 1864 the motto IN GOD WE
TRUST appeared on the new
two cent coins.
The
motto was added at the behest
of the Reverend Mark Richards
Watkinson of Ridleyville,
PA. He wrote a letter to Lincoln’s
Secretary of the Treasury,
Salmon P. Chase in 1861 promoting
the idea. After many suggestions
such as “Our Trust is
God,” Our God And Our
Country,” “God
Our Trust,” Chase picked
“In God We Trust”
to be used on some of our
coins.
The
curious thing is that for
a couple of different reasons
three denominations of gold
coins were struck with and
without the motto in the same
years. The first group was
the 1866 half eagle, eagle,
and double eagle. These coins
were struck with motto in
Philadelphia and later in
San Francisco.
However,
the earlier San Francisco
coins were struck without
the motto because the new
dies had not arrived, and
it was feared that production
numbers would be insufficient
for the year. The same is
true for the eagle and double
eagle. So these coins were
struck without the motto because
of geography.
The
second instance of with and
without motto gold coins took
place in 1908. President Theodore
Roosevelt, a religious man,
felt that the motto should
not be on our coins. In fact,
he felt it was blasphemous
because of the venial uses
of coinage such as gambling,
drinking, prostitution, and
so forth. The beautiful designs
of Augustus Saint-Gaudens
for the eagle and double eagle
did not mention God in their
original form.
However,
Congress and the general public
disagreed. (This situation
is not unlike what happened
by accident one hundred years
later when the edge lettered
motto on the presidential
series was left off thousands
of dollar coins in 2007. Of
course error collectors and
roll searchers were delighted.
However, there was uproar
in the numismatic and popular
press. God was left off the
dollar. The dollar was godless!
After much discussion, the
coins were modified to include
the motto under and to the
left of the president’s
portrait.) In 1908, Congress
ordered that all coins large
enough to accommodate the
motto should have it added.
These coins were struck with
the motto because of public
sentiment.
So
what we have is a group of
gold coins with and without
the motto “In God We
Trust” in two different
years using two different
design types. The first is
the Liberty Head motif designed
by Christian Gobrecht. This
group consists of the 1866
half eagle, eagle, and double
eagle. All three denominations
were issued in Philadelphia
and San Francisco with the
motto, and all three were
also minted in San Francisco
without the motto. In 1908,
for different reasons, the
Saint-Gaudens-Barber eagle
and double eagle were issued
with and without the motto.
Both denominations were issued
in Philadelphia, Denver, and
San Francisco with the motto,
and both were issued in Philadelphia
and Denver without the motto.
A
set of with and without motto
gold coins from these two
years would contain nine coins
from 1866 and ten from 1908.
Wouldn’t that be an
interesting and historic collection!
Some
really neat Newps
from Baltimore as well as
from a collection that's been
off the market for many years
already being added to the
website and new newps will
be added almost on a daily
basis . Please check back
often!
