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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;WingedLiberty, post: 2361495, member: 26030&quot;]<img src="https://mindstar.com/cointalk_photos/Portrait_TwoCent.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Coin is a PR66BN (not mine) of provenance &quot;Larry Shepherd Collection&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>From internet searches ...</p><p><br /></p><p>The two-cent piece was designed by James B. Longacre and was produced for circulation from 1864 to 1872 and for minted for collectors only in 1873. Mintages steadily decreased each year.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse design is a Longacre version of the Great Seal of the United States.&nbsp; His design focuses on the shield, or escutcheon, as a defensive weapon, signifying strength and self-protection through unity. The upper part of the shield (or &quot;chief&quot;) symbolizes Congress, while the 13 vertical stripes (or &quot;paleways&quot;) represent the states.&nbsp; Consequently the entire escutcheon symbolizes the strength of the federal government through the unity of the states.</p><p><br /></p><p>The crossed arrows represent nonaggression, but imply readiness against attack. The laurel branches, taken from Greek tradition, symbolize victory.&nbsp; In heraldic engraving, vertical lines represent red, clear areas white and horizontal lines blue, thus the escutcheon is (in theory) colored red, white, and blue and is meant to evoke the American flag.</p><p><br /></p><p>Art historian Cornelius Vermeule deemed the two-cent piece &quot;the most Gothic and the most expressive of the Civil War&quot; of all American coins. &quot;The shield, arrows, and wreath of the obverse need only flanking cannon to be the consummate expression of Civil War heraldry.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Longacre&#039;s two-cent piece was the first coin inscribed with &quot;In God We Trust&quot;. The motto was popularized by the new coin; on March 3, 1865 Congress passed legislation ordering its use on all coins large enough to permit it.&nbsp; Since 1938, &quot;In God We Trust&quot; has been used on all American coins.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The background of the motto is as follows.&nbsp; In late 1861, Reverend Mark Watkinson of Pennsylvania, had wrote to Treasury Secretary Chase and Mint Director Pollock, proposing that some reference to God be placed on the coinage &quot;in this time of Civil War&quot;.&nbsp; Several motto&#039;s were considered, including &quot;God Our Trust&quot; and &quot;God and Our Country&quot;. He later wrote &quot;the motto on each, such as all who fear God and love their country, will approve.&quot;&nbsp; Chase responded that it should be changed to read: &quot;IN GOD WE TRUST.&quot;&nbsp; Pollock had been inspired by The Star Spangled Banner, a later stanza of which includes the line, &quot;And this be our motto, In God Is Our Trust&quot;.&nbsp; Chase may have also been influenced in his decision by the motto of his alma mater, Brown University, which read In Deo Speramus (In God We Hope).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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