In God We Trust: Origins of the National Motto

Our national motto debuted on United States coinage during the chaos and heartache of the American Civil War. It has appeared on our money ever since.

Numismatic researcher William Bierly has dug deep into the origins and history of In God We Trust.

Now he tells its full story, introducing Reverend Mark Watkinson, the preacher who rallied the Treasury Department to recognize Almighty God in some form on our coins...

Mint Director James Pollock, former governor of Pennsylvania, a commanding figure who worked toward the same vision... and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, nephew of an Episcopal bishop, who marshalled our nation s vast resources and financed the war with bold innovations. President Abraham Lincoln figures in the tale, as does a cast of military generals, wealthy industrialists, poets and artists, powerful bankers, and everyday Americans, North and South.

Bierly shows how the upheaval of the Civil War changed not just the face of our coins and paper currency, but the very foundations of modern American banking and finance.