"In god we trust" First Appeared in 1864 on a now-defunct two cent coin, the result, according to the U.S. Treasury, of a rise in religious sentiment during the Civil War. "No nation, "Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase wrote then, "can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense." In time, the words were emblazoned on more coins and written into law in 1956 as the national motto. The following year, the government engraved the phrase on paper currency, beginning with silver certificate dollar bills and reaching $50 and $ 100 bills in 1966. This centurylong process of deification finished just in time for the great run on the dollar in 1971, when the government abandoned the gold standard and Americans were left to wonder just who or what stood behind their currency.
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