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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.
History of 'In God We Trust'
Posted from treasury.govPosted in these groups: United States Mint
God
God
Posted >1 y ago
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI SGT Forrest Stewart I am pasting the background to the coinage act of 1864 below. This was included in my daily civil war update:
November 13, 1861 Rev. M. R. Watkinson from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania writes Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase asking the motto "God, Liberty, Law" be added to all currency to "...place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed"
November 20, 1861 Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase instructs James Pollock of U. S. Mint in Philadelphia that "the trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins."
December 9, 1863 Unhappy with proposals from the mint director, Salmon Chase recommends the words "In God We Trust" be added to the design of the new one, two and three-penny coins.
April 22, 1864 The motto "In God We Trust" approved for US coinage (Coinage Act of 1864)
"In God We Trust" Although Faith in God and Faith in the Union had been popular concepts throughout American history, they enjoyed a renewal of sorts during The Civil War. A Pennsylvania minister came up with the idea of adding a motto to coins minted by the United States and expressed his feelings in a letter to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase on November 13, 1861, recommending the words "God, Liberty, Law" be added to all coins minted by the United States.
FYI SGT John " Mac " McConnell
November 13, 1861 Rev. M. R. Watkinson from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania writes Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase asking the motto "God, Liberty, Law" be added to all currency to "...place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed"
November 20, 1861 Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase instructs James Pollock of U. S. Mint in Philadelphia that "the trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins."
December 9, 1863 Unhappy with proposals from the mint director, Salmon Chase recommends the words "In God We Trust" be added to the design of the new one, two and three-penny coins.
April 22, 1864 The motto "In God We Trust" approved for US coinage (Coinage Act of 1864)
"In God We Trust" Although Faith in God and Faith in the Union had been popular concepts throughout American history, they enjoyed a renewal of sorts during The Civil War. A Pennsylvania minister came up with the idea of adding a motto to coins minted by the United States and expressed his feelings in a letter to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase on November 13, 1861, recommending the words "God, Liberty, Law" be added to all coins minted by the United States.
FYI SGT John " Mac " McConnell
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SGT Forrest Stewart
LTC Stephen F. - yes, I read this the other day. Thank you for sharing it again here!
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Here is an image of the coin SGT John " Mac " McConnell. I plan on including a mention of this in todays Civil War post. In God We Trust fizzled out after the Civil War but was reenergized in the early 1900s and encoded in law in 1955 for both coins and paper currency.
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Thanks for sharing the legislative history of 'In God We Trust' which began in 1864 and went up and down until 1955 I believe.
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