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Mail Tribune Local News Section
March 2, 2007

Since You Asked: God pushed to the edge

I would like to know why has the phrase "In God We Trust" been left off of the new dollar coins? This has been on coins and dollar bills till now.

I'm greatly disappointed about this and don't want to receive any of these coins. I'm a Christian and believe in "God."

-- Jean A., Medford

Hey, don't forget "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin for "out of many, one") Jean ... that was on America's money long before "In God We Trust," which supplanted the nation's original motto when the United States Code was changed in 1956.

Trust us, "God" is still on America's money. It's hard to make everybody happy all the time, but the U.S. Mint appears to have found a unique way with these new dollar coins.

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The first faces in this new series of coins commemorating U.S. presidents are George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Around their mugs are their names and dates of presidential service. The reverse, or back, side has an image of the Statue of Liberty and raised lettering reading "United States of America" and "$1."

But if you look on the edge of the coin, you'll see "In God We Trust," "E Pluribus Unum" and "2007." They're called "edge-incused inscriptions."

Don't look for a George W. Bush coin anytime soon, Jean. The U.S. Mint is releasing the commemorative coins four per year in the order each president served. The last one on the current release schedule is No. 38, the late President Gerald Ford, and he's due for release in 2016.

You might also be interested to know that the First Wives are on a $10 gold coin series being released in the same manner, starting this year with Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, "Lady Liberty" for presidential widower Thomas Jefferson, and Dolley Madison. And yes, those coins, too, bear the nation's two mottos.

For more, check out www.usmint.gov online.

Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to youasked@mailtribune.com.

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