PrintNovember 27, 2006
"In God we trust" and new coin (updated)
Can this report possibly be true? And if so, why am I reading about it first from an Isareli website, Arutz Sheva?
(IsraelNN.com) The American mint has removed the official "In God We Trust" motto from the face of it dollar coin and has relegated it to the gold-colored coin's thin edge. Mint officials said the reason for the change is to leave more room for portraits of former presidents and the Statue of Liberty.Frankly, I am skeptical about the report. But if it is true, with the news coming out right before Christmas, there will be a firestorm. Doesn't anyone at the United States Mint remember what happened when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance?
The San Francisco Mint would be the obvious place to manufacture the new coin, assuming this lame-brain scheme ever comes to pass.
Update: Thanks to several readers for sending us links to the US Mint official website on the coin, and to this CNN story, which makes it clear that the new presidential series dollar coins are intended to eventually supplant paper bills for the one dollar denomination.
N. J. O'Neill writes:
From a U.S. Mint press release:Traditional Subjects, Unique DesignThe designs of the coins are bold and dramatic, with traditional inscriptions moved to the edge to allow for larger images of the Presidents. These include "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust," the year of minting or issuance, and the mint mark, making these coins unique among today's U.S. circulating coins.Pictures of the new designs can be found here.
Of course, this attempt at a $1 coin will fail, just as the Sacagawea Dollar has failed, due to Congress's failure to allow the "Susan B. Anthony" to die a richly deserved death and be removed from circulation. Who wants to get a roll of dollars from the bank when there is a strong chance that the fancy new "Golden" designs will be polluted with Susan B's?Why doesn't the United States Mint remove the Susan B. Anthony dollar from circulation? Here is why:The United States Mint is prevented from removing the Susan B. Anthony dollar from circulation due to legislation. The United States Dollar Coin Act of 1997 mandated that both the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin and the Golden Dollar co-circulate with the dollar bill. Therefore, the Golden Dollar and the Susan B. Anthony dollar coins will continue to co-circulate in the marketplace.Marketplace?!
