The United States Mint released two new liberty coins at the beginning of this month, but one iconic phrase often depicted on US currency has been replaced on one of them.
Earlier this month, the US Mint released the 2023-W $100 American Liberty Gold Coin and 2023-P American Liberty Silver Medal.
While the gold coin still has the iconic “In God We Trust” phrase engraved on it, the silver medal has “We Shall Preserve” instead, according to CoinNews.net.
Both the gold and silver coins have the same design except for a few minor details, the phrase being one of them.
The phrase “In God We Trust” first began appearing on our printed money in 1957 but first appeared on coins much earlier.
During the Civil War, the phrase was first added to US coins when religious sentiment was growing in the nation, and Americans wanted the world to know what the country stood for, according to Time.
Congress discussed adding the phrase to the coin, and by 1864, the first two-cent coin was minted with the phrase.
However, the phrase hasn’t always been accepted by everyone, often sparking legal challenges to have it removed, but no such challenge has been successful.
The new coins were created by Elana Hagler, the Artistic Infusion Program Designer for the US Mint, and sculpted by US Mint Chief Engraver Joseph Menna.