So, in the course of cashing a check yesterday afternoon (the bank's right next door to where I work), I scored big on the coin front.

I got four of the shiny, new gold Washington dollar coins in my change. (Yay!)

However, my glee was short-lived, thanks to the following exchange with the ignorant.

OH = Our Heroine
Him = College-aged guy bank teller

*****

OH: Pretty!

Him: They're nice aren't they? At last, a dollar coin I can support.

OH: [puzzled] Well, they are distinctive, with the gold color and the really angry George Washington face.

Him: It's the first dollar coin that says "In God We Trust."

OH: No it isn't.

Him: Yes, it is.

OH: No it isn't. All modern American money has "In God We Trust" on it. There's not a chance that any dollar coin minted in the 20th century doesn't have it.

Him: Well they didn't.

OH: [looking at George Washington coin] You're wrong about dollar coins in the past. And you're definitely wrong about this one. There's no "In God We Trust" on it anywhere.

Him: [smug] Look at the edge of the coin.

OH: [looks at edge of the coin; sees "In God We Trust" etched in light letters around the edge] That's...a very weird place to put it. Usually that's on the face of the coin.

Him: Not on dollar coins. It's never been on a dollar coin. That's why I like this coin, because it has "In God We Trust" on it.

OH: [gives up on schooling the ignorant] What difference does it make whether the saying's there or not? Money's money.

Him: [looks at OH with disgust] It makes a big difference.

OH: [backs slowly away from the ka-raz-ee] I gotta get to work. Deadline.


Now, this guy was so convinced that "In God We Trust" never appeared on a coin, that nothing I said convinced him. End result? I decided to check who was right.

Which of these coins is not like the other?

( Eisenhower dollar coin, 1971 to 1978 )

( Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, 1979-1981 and 1999 )

( Sacagawea dollar coin, minted since 2000 )

( George Washington dollar coin, minted since 2007 )

Now, am I missing something? Is someone somewhere spreading some kind of urban legend that modern dollar coins don't have "In God We Trust" on them? Why the hell would anyone do that?

Because if you look, dollar coins before the 1920s didn't have the saying, and absolutely no U.S. currency had the saying prior to the Civil War.

So, here we have it. Modern U.S. coins and bills have the saying on the face of the coin or bill. Now we have a coin where it's etched on the edge in veeeeeery light letters. If it's important to you to have "In God We Trust" on the money, how is this considered a good thing? (As I said. I couldn't care less. Money is money.) Isn't having the saying along the edge, I dunno, a demotion?

Also, why does it even matter that "In God We Trust" is on the money anyway? Who really cares about this? It seems like such a...I dunno...a petty thing to be worried about.