THE "NO MOTTO" CONTROVERSY

The motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" first appeared on our coinage during the Civil War. It was included on almost every Liberty Head gold coin minted from 1867 to 1907. The new Augustus Saint-Gaudens design, however, lacked this important inscription.

President Teddy Roosevelt ordered the motto “In God We Trust” stricken from the coin (hence the name “No Motto”). The President explained his reasoning in a letter to William Boldly dated November 11, 1907:

"My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege...It is a motto which it is indeed well to have inscribed on our great national monuments, in our temples of justice, in our legislative halls, and in building such as those at West Point and Annapolis -- in short, wherever it will tend to arouse and inspire a lofty emotion in those who look thereon. But it seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements."

Despite his motivations, the public construed the omission of this motto as an attack upon religion. The resulting uproar quickly led to a Congressional act restoring the inscription which was added in mid-1908. Thus, from late 1908 until the $20 Saint-Gaudens' end in 1933, all Saint-Gaudens double eagles were struck with the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST."