IN GOD WE TRVST, as you know, was placed on the obverse of the United States "Peace" Dollars which were minted from 1921 to 1928 and, again, in the years 1934 and 1935. Photo courtesy of Coinfacts.com: http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dollars/peace_dollars/1922_peace_dollar.htm Who was responsible for this TRVST spelling and where did the idea come from? No dollar coin had been minted for circulation in the United States since 1904, the last year of the Morgan Dollar. The demand for silver dollars was so low that vast quantities of Morgans were still sitting in bank vaults. That hurdle was overcome with the passage of the Pittman Act on April 23, 1918. Sponsored by Nevada Senator Key Pittman, the Act allowed the US government to melt as many as 350 million silver dollars, and then either sell the bullion or use it to produce subsidiary silver coinage. Additionally, the law required the government to mint replacement dollars for any that were melted, with domestically purchased silver. Since the Act required the minting of new silver dollars, and since no new designs had been accepted, on May 9, 1921, the US Mint resumed production of the Morgan Dollar at the Philadelphia, Denver (the first US Dollar to carry the "D" for Denver mint mark) and San Francisco Mints More than 86 million Morgans were struck during that year, by far the single highest mintage in the coin's history. The same day that mintage of the Morgan resumed, legislation was introduced in the US Congress that called for the issuance of a new silver dollar to commemorate the post-World War I peace. Note: The measure did not come to a vote because a vote wasn't needed. Since the Morgan had been in production (during its original run) (1878 thru 1904) for more than 25 years, alteration of the design no longer required legislative approval. The job of designing the new coin would normally be given to George T. Morgan, the mint's chief engraver and designer of the Morgan Dollar. But in compliance with an executive order by President Warren G. Harding an open design competition for the new dollar was held by the Commission of Fine Arts. Nine artists paticipated, including Adolph A. Weiunman (Mercury Dime designer), Herman MacNeil (designer of Standing Liberty Quarter), and Victor D. Brenner (Lincoln Cent designer). The winner of the competition was an Italian immigrant and sculptor, Anthony de Francisci. You may know his name because he designed the Maine Centennial half dollar that was issued by the Mint in 1920. Being schooled and receiving his apprenticeship in Italy, he was familiar with the Latin (modified Greek) Alphabet which follows: ABCDEFZHIKLMNOPQRSTVX Architect, Richard Phene Spiers (1838-1916), created the artwork on a testimonial Bronze Plaquette in 1905, with a bust on the obverse of édouard Lantéri, facing left, featuring on the reverse the capital of a column seen before the distant Acropolis, and the inscription: THE GREATEST TRVST BETWEEN MAN AND MAN IS THE TRVST OF GIVING COVNSEL, 79mm x 59mm. Another reason is Anthony de Francisci was an afficianado of Art Deco and those artists employed Latin Alphabet type fonts in their work. So our "Peace" Dollar has TRVST on it instead of TRUST on purpose. It is not a mistake or mint error! Our "Peace" Dollar was our "Victory" coin commemorating the end of WWI. Ever since coinage came into being there have been "Peace" (Victory) coins srtruck by various nations. Here's a few: Note: If you know of or have a favorite "Peace" (Victory) coin, let us see a pic of it. The earliest "Peace" coin I could find is this silver Sestertius struck by the Rome mint in AD 210 to commemorate "Victory" over Britain thus bringing "Peace" to the British Isles region. The person on the obverse is that of Septimus Severus and the reverse features two Victories hanging a round shield on a palm tree and the inscription "VICTORIAE BRITTANICAE. Before you inspect the coin, here's the whole story: In AD 208 Septimius Severus, together with the entire imperial family (his wife Julia Domna and their sons Caracalla and Geta), set out for Britain where the situation on the northern frontier demanded urgent attention. He would spend the last two and a half years of his life in the isles and was destined never to return to Rome. Together with his elder son, the co-emperor Caracalla, he campaigned vigorously beyond the imperial frontier, penetrating far into Scotland. The line of their marching-camps can still be detected today by aerial photography. Severus also restored Hadrian's Wall, the northern frontier of the province, which was in serious need of renovation now that more than eighty years had elapsed since its original construction. Little is known of the success of these military operations, though they were to bring "peace" to the area for the remainder of the third century and an extensive issue of coinage in all metals was produced to commemorate the British victory. And now the coin (image courtesy of coinarchives.com): http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img/cng/075/enlarged/75001090.jpg This next coin celebrates the conclusion of the Bar Kochba War Redeeming Israel Before I let you see this coin here is more to the story: The Bar Kochba War raged in Judaea from A.D. 132 to 135, a time when the rest of the Roman Empire was largely at "peace." Judaea, too, might have remained serene had Hadrian not decided to build a temple to Jupiter on the ruined site of the holy Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the ancient city which he had renamed Aelia Capitolina in honor of his family. Hadrian never suspected that those actions, which he deemed reasonable and pious, would ignite a terrifying rebellion that helped to sour the final years of his life. The uprising was led militarily by Simon Bar Kochba (Bar Kosiba) and spiritually by Rabbi Akiba; the role of another important figure, "Eleazar the Priest" as he is called on some coins, is not certainly known. The Jewish patriots produced a significant coinage by overstriking Roman silver and bronze coins with dies of their own creation. Some numismatic historians believe a few major coining processes had their debut during this period. The minting was achieved without heating the planchets and it is believed that hinged dies were used since the die axes usually are at 12 o’clock or 6 o’clock alignments. Also, since the edges of the silver coins are vertically cut and are more or less uniformly round, it is also thought that some kind of edge collar was used – certainly an innovation for the ancient world. This particular coin, a "large bronze" struck not long after the revolt began, shows an amphora and a wreath. The Paleo- Hebrew inscriptions are especially useful: the one around the amphora, "Year One of the redemption of Israel," (AD 132-133)) provides the date of the coin and gives us insight into the nature of the rebellion, and the inscription within the wreath identifies Simon Bar Kochba as "Simon, Prince of Israel." http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img/nac/040/00293q00.jpg This next example is not a coin, but a British token that circulated as if it was a coin. It's a halfpenny created and struck by the firm of Skidmore for Hornsey in 1797. A view of a church dominates the obverse while the reverse proudly proclaims the hope for "A SPEEDY AND LASTING PRACE." This photo is courtesy of coinarchives.com: http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img/baldwin/052/00784q00.jpg This is one of the nicest examples in this Trivia's category: A German gold 5 Ducats (a.k.a. 1/2 Bankportugaloser) struck circa 1700. The obverse features the Radiant eye of God over a city view of Hamburg and it's harbor with four ships afloat. The reverse contains a Radiant bust of God Father over rainbow and between clouds. Below him "Peace" with palm branch and Justice with sword kissing. Palm tree and pine to l. and r. Flowers and two turtling doves on ground. Pic courtesy of coinarchives.com: http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img/ubs/072/00245q00.jpg This next "Peace" or "Victory" example is of a Russian Medal dedicating the Peace of Turkey. I elect this example as best for eye appeal of both sides of a medal: The clarity and dimension of Catherine II's bust on the obverse and the excellent relief on the reverse of the figures and the clarity of the dedication letters within the confines of the exergue on the reverse. Don't you agree? Pics courtesy of coinarchives.com: http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img/goldberg/041/image03785.jpg This next coin is a Mainz Gold Ducat struck in 1696 to commemorate the "Peace" of Ryswick. Concordia seated with corucopia in left arm, crown or wreath of victory in right extended arm. The Peace of Ryswick was signed as an end to the war of the grand alliance. Essentially, the nations of England, Netherlands, Spain, and The Holy Roman Empire united to oppose the expansionist aims of France's Louis XIV. In actuality, the war and the peace treaty accomplished little, yet at the time, was thought of as a great event. Notice that this war was not fought on religious grounds, as two Catholic countries opposed Catholic France. Image courtesy of coinarchives.com: http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img/goldberg/041/image04028.jpg I'm skipping lots of other examples (some not so good; others real nice) to leap forward in numismatic history to Panama's Gold 100 Balboas dated 1978. It was struck as a dedication to "Peace and Progress." The date side features a Dove Orchid. Photo courtesy of coinarchives.com: http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/image/goldberg/041/image04816.jpg This next "Peace/Victory" example was struck in 1944 at the end of WWII. It is the famous "V" for Victory (on the reverse) Canada Five Cent coin! Image courtesy of worldcoingallery.com: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img8/35-40a&desc=Canada%20km40a%205%20Cents%20(1944,1945)%20Chromium-plated%20steel This next coin is a special (duo commemoration) One Dollar coin: The obverse commemorates the silver (25 years) anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne. She became Queen on Feb. 6, 1952. The coin is dated 1977. The obverse celebrates the Waitangi Treaty Act which was signed into law, also on Feb. 6, but back in 1860! The Treaty justified making New Zealand a British colony; it also brought "Peace" between the native Māori and the European colonists by giving the Maori the same rights as British citizens and the right to ownership of their lands and other properties. Quite a commemorative isn't it? (image courtesy of worldcoingallery): http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...New Zealand km46 1 Dollar (1977) Waitanji Day That finishes my contributions to the subject of "Peace" coins, but, remember, if you have a favorite coin pertaining to this trivia subject, let us see it! Clinker
Another excellent entry into the Encyclopedia Clinkeria ! Thanks for all the effort. Very interesting.
:thumb: i enjoyed reading this! i will enjoy reading it again tonight :thumb: :thumb: i will again enjoy reading it as i bookmark another of your threads for future refference!!!
Tater Thanks, Tater. I'm happy you thought it good enough to comment... you helped make my day! Clinker
