Bill Bierly’s In God We Trust shows numismatic research is alive and well

(Pelham, Alabama) — In November 2019 Whitman Publishing will release William Bierly’s In God We Trust: The American Civil War, Money, Banking, and Religion. The 352-page hardcover volume will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide, and online. Here, Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker discusses how the book came to be.

Sometimes in the numismatic world, it can seem like there’s nothing new under the sun—as if every subject has been researched, every story told. This is an illusion. In reality, numismatics is a living, breathing discipline, rich with ongoing study, startling discoveries, and freshly revealed connections that span the depth and breadth of human experience. The story that William Bierly has woven together in his new book, In God We Trust, illustrates this vibrancy.

Hover to zoom.

I met Bill several years ago after a meeting of the Chicago Coin Club, held at the American Numismatic Association’s annual World’s Fair of Money. We were introduced by Robert Leonard (another member of the Club, and a Whitman author). Bob assured me that Bill had a very promising manuscript proposal. Our conversation that followed convinced me that he was on to something big, something new and significant.

Many coin collectors know little of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” beyond the knowledge summed up in a single sentence in the “Two-Cent Pieces” section of the Guide Book of United States Coins (the “Red Book”): “The motto IN GOD WE TRUST appeared for the first time on the new coin, with the personal support of Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase.” The words are factual. But that’s like saying, “Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1860 and served during the Civil War”—and allowing this to be the sum of your knowledge of the man!

Articles about the motto have been published in numismatic magazines and journals over the years. None have approached the detail and intricacy that Bill Bierly brought to his research. From time to time, mainstream (non-numismatic) writers also mention “In God We Trust,” often when school prayer, public prayer, the separation of Church and State, atheist lawsuits, and similar subjects are in the headlines. Articles in popular publications often gloss over the details, and sometimes even get the facts wrong.

To set the record straight, Bill Bierly has followed leads, researched in archives and libraries, interviewed historians local and national, and gathered images. He has tracked down and dispelled rumors and half-true tales. And he has expanded the context of “In God We Trust” to show how the Civil War changed American banking, finance, and business forever. The result of his work is a fascinating exploration of a simple but profound four-word motto that has appeared on hundreds of billions of U.S. coins and paper-money notes.

In God We Trust is an important addition to the body of historical research, and a sterling example of how numismatics touches every aspect of American life.

In God We Trust: The American Civil War, Money, Banking, and Religion

By William Bierly; foreword by Q. David Bowers

ISBN 0794845282

Hardcover, 6 x 9 inches, 352 pages, full color

Retail $29.95 U.S.

About the Author

William (Bill) Bierly was raised on a farm near Walkerton, Indiana. As a child, he heard stories from his grandparents about two of his great-grandfathers who had served in the Civil War. This led to a lifelong interest in that war and that period of history. At about age eight, he began collecting coins from circulating change. Following high school Bierly attended Northwestern University for two years and then completed a degree in sociology and economic development with a minor in Chinese studies at Indiana University. He then worked in India for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in a dairy development project. Back in the United States, his interest in coins was rekindled. He soon went abroad again, working for three years in Osaka, Japan. Then in the United States, he operated a small business for five years, sold it, and entered graduate school, earning an MBA in finance from Indiana University and embarking on a 25-year career in commercial banking. With his overseas experience, Bierly focused on international banking, particularly Japanese corporate business and Asian correspondent banking. He began his career at the National Bank of Detroit, and he worked with J.P. Morgan Chase for much of his career; at various times at the bank’s Detroit, Chicago, and Columbus, Ohio, offices, as well as often traveling to Asia.

While thus engaged, Bierly continued to pursue his coin hobby, eventually specializing in Civil War–era coinage, in particular, pattern coins. Today he is active in several coin groups and clubs, most notably the Central States Numismatic Society, the American Numismatic Association, the American Numismatic Society, the Chicago Coin Club, the Michigan State Numismatic Society, and the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists, as well as the Civil War Token Society and the Liberty Seated Collectors Club. He sometimes exhibits his collection at major coin shows and frequently volunteers as an exhibit judge.

Bierly resides in LaPorte, Indiana. He has two children, Emma and Ken, as well as a granddaughter, Kiki.

About Whitman Publishing

Whitman Publishing is the world’s leading producer of numismatic reference books, supplies, and products to display and store coins and paper money. The company’s high-quality books educate readers in the rich, colorful history of American and world coinage and currency, and teach how to build great collections. Archival-quality Whitman folders, albums, cases, and other holders keep collectibles safe and allow them to be shown off to friends and family.

Whitman Publishing is the Official Supplier of the American Numismatic Association. As a benefit of membership in the ANA, members can borrow In God We Trust (and other Whitman books) for free from the Association’s Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library, and also receive 10% off all Whitman purchases. Details are at the website of the ANA.

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Comments

  1. KEITHSTER says

    I still think the motto is what keeps America great as it has never hurt to have GOD on your side!!! Try to push HIM to the edge well did not go to well for the Pres. dollars? So make America great again and leave In God We Trust Alone. And God Luck All>”>”>”

  2. KEITHSTER says

    Would YOU granted it’s still there and with a little searching all can find it or will sooner or later ! Just saying by the Grace Of God Goes America. A you know money talks and ours says IN GOD WE TRUST… So lets keep that luck going till we’re done just saying Good Luck All???”><"

  3. So Krates says

    Yes, KEITHSTER and Sherril’s god is a jealous, vengeful god who most likely would be angered by a trivial slight like moving HIS name to the edge. Who else could be making that terrible noise in the sky during a storm?

    I think we should put the boss’s First Commandment on the obverse:

    Thou shalt have no other gods before me

    That sounds more like human insecurity than divine omnipotence

  4. Buzz Killington says

    Just because I think it is incredibly unfortunate to have to this motto on our money doesn’t mean that I dismiss this book out of hand. I wonder if Bowers review, calling objectors “naysayers” did this book a disservice. I’ll admit to being interested in the topic of how this silly phrase got from Salmon Chase’s fancy, through all the channels to end up on our money.

    I think, like horse-racing and this terrible motto, a lot of things that are common now are going to be seen as obvious mistakes by a superstitious and selfish populace.

    If we wanted to stick with a Judeo-Christian theme, we could put “Give to Caesar…” as a replacement motto. Jesus didn’t seem to think that money that money was very godly.

  5. Jerome Diekmann says

    I think “In God We Trust” is just fine – as human beings we know innately that there is something much greater, powerful, and wondrous than us – a being, a force, a deity, a spirit, some uncaused cause, whatever. Our intellects tell us that, and here in a Christian nation this being is called God and we put our trust in this being. Believing that such a being exists makes you a theist. Believing that such a being doesn’t exist makes you an atheist. Neither side can prove or disprove what the other’s view. So “God” is OK with me – you don’t have to belong to some religion to be a theist and an atheist would not belong to any religion. And a person’s humanity does not depend on whether one is a theist or an atheist. I don’t think it is disrespectful or inherently religious to use the name “God” on our coinage or our pledge of allegiance – we’re just acknowledging something greater than us, and that is pretty evident if you look up at night to a sky full of stars.

  6. John Q. Coinage says

    Maybe “In Thanos We Don’t Trvst”….. Did God create man or did man create god? Keeps the folk in line……

  7. KEITHSTER says

    Many names but one God. All people have known from the beginning some more than others? Your mind tells you what good to do but you don’t listen. Shame on you shame on us all what a wonderful world it would be! Instead look what you got war upon war till the end! Say what you want that’s the free speech you are to use wisely but don’t. Every thing belongs to something so who do you think all them stars belong to and knows them by name. Well let me clue you in you get to meet the Owner the day you die and when They play back you soul to you how are you going to defend that??? You can’t so get over it and try to fly right! It will help you in the End Which end depends on you? Hey wait coin blog here did order some gold today same one twice!!So Sok rat ess ays & Buzz Killing t ons ays Good Luck To You And To All The Same

  8. Jerome Diekmann says

    The subject of believing in God all comes down to faith. Either you believe in something or you don’t believe in something, or more accurately you believe not in something.. Believing in something doesn’t make it true and not believing in something doesn’t mean it’s not true. Some people consider faith as a virtue while other people consider it as an opiate to confuse and control people. Different strokes for different folks. None of us will ever know the answer, at least while we we’re alive on this planet. After that, well, the same issue,to believe or not believe in an afterlife. I can see both sides of the coin, but I don’t know in the end which way the coin is going to end up – obverse or reverse, maybe on its side?

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