Coinage: "In God We Trust"

The Currency of Faith: How one man put God into circulation

On Nov. 13, 1861, in the first months of the war, Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase received the following letter from a Rev. M.R. Watkinson: "Dear Sir, One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins. You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were now shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation?"
....

Given the association of his name with Chase Manhattan, however, Salmon P. Chase is largely remembered for his role as secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864. Seven days after reading the 1861 letter from the Pennsylvania pastor, Chase wrote the following to the director of the Mint in Philadelphia: "Dear Sir, No nation can be strong except in the strength of God or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins."

It was several years in the making, but on March 3, 1865, Congress passed a bill calling for "In God We Trust" to be inscribed on U.S. coins. It would be one of the last acts President Lincoln signed into law.

Salmon P. Chase

Comment: Interesting. I did not know that "In God We Trust" did not appear on bills until 50 years ago (see article).