.- A provision in a 2008 domestic spending bill will change the positioning of the national motto “In God We Trust” on new dollar coins honoring U.S. presidents, the Winston Salem-Journal reports.
The motto will move from the edge of the new dollar coins to the front or the back of the currency. Critics had complained about the present placement of the motto, claiming its position on the outer edge of the coins would trivialize the words.
The $555 billion domestic spending bill signed into law by President Bush in December included a provision mandating the design change “as soon as is practicable.”
The U.S. Mint began producing the one-dollar coins in 2007, initially honoring the first four presidents. The 2008 coins will continue the present design, but the motto will be repositioned for the 2009 minting.
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, said he was pleased with the change, saying that his group had been concerned that “moving ‘In God We Trust’ off the face of our coins was just one step toward removing it altogether.”
The motto “In God We Trust” first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864. Congress declared it the national motto in 1956. It was included on the back of dollar bills one year later.
