"Financially, the US economy has degenerated into a sort of cargo cult, where people feel that they can continue to attract recycled petrodollars by dancing around piles of internet servers with their cell phones and their laptops."
There was an article on WorldNetDaily.com a while back (a.k.a. wnd.com) making a ruckus over removing "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust" and "relegating" these inscriptions to the edge of the coins. I didn't notice until you mentioned it that "Liberty" was left out altogether. Although, one could argue that "Liberty" is included implicitly with the image of the Statue of Liberty. Perhaps there is a tiny "Liberty" inscribed on the torch? I can't see enough detail to tell in the mint's images at usmint.gov.
Actually I think putting "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust" on the edge along with the date and mint mark is clever. I think more folks are likely to look at the edge lettering and actually read it since it is a novelty.
The reason They give is that the image of the Statue of Liberty is emblematic of the word 'liberty' itself. One cannot see that Statue and not think of 'liberty'.
Nurismatic societies have complained repeatedly about the amount of text mandated by law on US coins. Congress requires on each design: "Liberty" (with the notable exception mentioned above) "United States of America" "E Pluribus Unum" "In God We Trust" denomination (commonly spelled out rather than a numeral) year of mintage mintmark
That's a lot of text! For example, a pre-1999 quarter has 71 alphanumeric characters on it! Text cramps designs, wears out dies, and makes the coin more language-dependant. This is what prompted the new dollar coins to have edge lettering, removing most of the text so that more face area is liberated for larger designs. Replacing the word 'liberty' with an image synonymous with liberty is another step in that direction.
If that New York statue wasn't on the reverse, the Mint would be busted for violating a Congressional mandate.
New Dollar Coin Drops the word Liberty
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Posted - 02/13/2007 : 00:48:29
