1890 Explanation for IGWT motto.

RogerB

PennyGuy

Thanks for posting this. I like the overview of the Motto history.

BillDugan1959

Beautiful handwriting provided many persons with a living before the age of the typewriter!

AUandAG

Wonderful letter. Thanks!

bob

logger7

1864 was the first year that the motto appeared: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_God_We_Trust

The Civil War was the bloodiest in US history, a few years ago it was revised upward, and it is understandable during that terrible time there were loud calls for divine help: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/civil-war-toll-up-by-20-percent-in-new-estimate.html

divecchia

The cursive writing is beautiful. It is now becoming a lost art as it is no longer taught in school. I won a few penmanship awards in the 3rd and 4th grades.

Thanks for sharing this letter about the Motto on our coins.

Donato

RogerB

[Side Note. One of the tests given clerks was handwriting. I recall that it counted 20%. This and other volumes consist of what are called "fair copies" of correspondence. The Director dictated to a clerk who took shorthand, then transcribed the official letter. Once approved for content, another clerk copied it into 8-page signatures. These were later bound into 500-page volumes, and the pages numbered with a digit stamp. Another clerk, usually the lowest ranking one, built an index of recipients and page numbers. Some clerks did nothing but this job for the entire career.]

RogerB

Rev. Watkinson actually suggested completely new coin designs that including mentioning the deity. He did not actually propose a motto - that was Pollock's idea.

(A detailed rendition of the story will be found in Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908. It includes quotations from congregation members concerning Watkinson.)

Onastone

Our Country, Our God. That really points us to a unity. God Our Trust is also nice.

Other mottos that didn't make the cut:

Money for God's Sake
Bless this Buck
God's Gold
Our Daily Bread
Bank on God
Trust no One
Good God Lord
Golden God
Cash is King
A Dollar a Day
Pennies From Heaven
God's Savings and Trust

RogerB

You forgot to mention "Dog Our God"

astrorat

@RogerB said:
You forgot to mention "Dog Our God"

... or in palindrome form "dog r god"

ldhair

@divecchia said:
The cursive writing is beautiful. It is now becoming a lost art as it is no longer taught in school. I won a few penmanship awards in the 3rd and 4th grades.

Thanks for sharing this letter about the Motto on our coins.

Donato

I was always in trouble in school. They were teaching both and I could not keep the teacher happy. I still use both.
Cool letter.

ricko

Great letter..... The amount of historical information that comes to light on this forum is amazing. Cheers, RickO

1630Boston

Great history once again, thanks

grip

Good stuff.

RogerB

@astrorat said:

@RogerB said:
You forgot to mention "Dog Our God"

... or in palindrome form "dog r god"

Even better! Should be on all our coins and paper currency.
(PS: My late dog, Ivan, agrees!)