Prophetic coinage
As many of you would know, the fine people of the United States acknowledge their Christian heritage with the words “In God we trust” on their coins.
But a recent development in things monetary is that folk at the US Mint have developed this marvellous new technology which allows them to put inscriptions on the edge of the coins. So “In God we trust” is now much less obvious, if indeed it is legible at all after a few days of wear and tear.
And the latest confession from the US Mint—that, oopsy, they managed to just produce an “unspecified” proportion of 300 million new $1 coins without any edge inscription at all—seems oddly helpful to the cause of those who have been fighting in the courts for years to have “In God we trust” removed, so far unsuccessfully.
So “In God we trust” has gone from up-front, to the periphery, to dropping off altogether. It all seems strangely symbolic.