God-Less Dollars? Athiest dollar coins?

You may have heard it on the news – “The United States government has released coins with the US motto In God We Trust on them. Perhaps the news report you heard made it sound like the government was out to make “atheist coins” on purpose. That’s hardly the case. Read on to learn the real story about the Godless dollars.

Presidential Dollar Series Released

At the beginning of 2007 the first of a new US dollar coin series

was released into general circulation, it featured President George Washington. The US government mint plans to release four different Presidential dollar coins each year until all former (deceased) US presidents have been honored. You can pick them up at your local bank when they are issued, or order them you’re your favorite coin dealer.

Washington Presidential dollar image presidential dollar coins

Presidential dollar coins are similar in size to the Sacagawea dollar, which is not much larger than a quarter. Herein lies the start of the problem. Because the coins are not large, the mint contemplated ways that would allow more room for a large portrait of the president on the front of the coins. In an unusual move, the US mint decided to place the year of mintage (date), mint mark, and the mottos “In God We Trust” and “E Pluribus Unum” on the edge of the coin. The edge letters are visible by looking at the coins from the side. For almost 50 years the motto “In God We Trust” has been required on US government issued coins.

Mint sources and hobby experts said that by moving these features to the edge of the coin, they thought there would be more room for a detailed portrait of the president on the front. The presidential portraits wouldn’t be overshadowed by dates, mottos, and so on. Collectors are excited about having something different, such as edge letters on coins.

In God We Trust on the Edge of the Washington Presidential Dollar coins

Click here to see the new Presidential $1 coin features.

How did “God” get on the edge?

To add the edge lettering, first the front and back of the coins are stamped using the normal minting process. At this point the coins do not have edge lettering. Next, the dollars are moved through a separate machine that adds the edge lettering: The year and mint mark, along with the US mottos In God We Trust and E Pluribus Unum.

What about the Godless dollars?

You can probably guess by now what happened.

US mint officials acknowledge that probably one batch (or part of a batch) of presidential coins missed the edge lettering machine process resulting in “God-less” dollars, no edge lettering on that batch of dollars.

Some collectors have reported discovering “God-less” dollars in rolls found at their bank or in circulation. Independent coin grading services PCGS and NGC have certified as authentic some of these coins without the “In God We Trust” inscription or the edge lettering. Now the US mint has acknowledged that some “Plain Edge” presidential dollars do exist and they are unintentional errors.

Godless Dollars - a Rarity?

The exact number of plain edge dollars minted is unknown. They seem to be hard to find. At the time of this writing God-less, plain edge dollars are selling from about $100 for very low grade plain edge errors to $300 or $400 for higher grade certified dollar coins.

Click here - to see an actual plain edge ERROR Presidential dollar coin.

The US mint has declared that they are improving the mintage process so that such God-less dollar errors do not happen in the future.

Facts about the United States Presidential Coins:

Presidential coins are golden colored but not really made of the metal gold. The P and D mint mark dollars are minted for general public release into the banking system and will be available at local banks (if your bank will order them).

S mint dollar coins are only available in special proof sets sold by the US mint and some coin dealers. These proof presidential dollar coin sets are housed in special hard plastic cases where the edge lettering of the presidential coins are also visible.

See related article about “DOUBLE edge lettering” John Adams presidential dollars.

Where can you buy - a plain edge ERROR God-less Presidential dollar coin?

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