A Bold But Yet Innovative Idea

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I vote for Andrew Jackson. Didn't he try to abolish the Fed?

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No, the Federal Reserve is a 20th Century creation. What Jackson opposed was the charter and existence of the Bank of The United States. A central bank with a similar mission as the Federal Reserve, so it is easy to confuse them!

Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second...nited_States

There are simply too many greats in out past. I bet no two people can name an identical top 13, one for each standard coin and bill. Perhaps we should limit it to one per person--i.e. Penny or $5, choose lincoln!

You can't please everyone all the time. I am sure people would get over it. I don't get why the average joe blow would be offended anyway.

We should also get rid of "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum." The first one, for obvious reasons, but I think both should go because it clutters the coin up too much. If you look at recent desings ( State Quarter and Prez Dollar) for example, it's not a matter of artfully incorporating the mottos in the designs of the coin, but trying to stick it wherever it will fit.

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Though maybe the term monarchy has been given a new definition, such as a nation where crooked, lying, thieving, and filthy rich politicians roam and rule the poor and the not so poor!

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um....no comment ;)

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We should also get rid of "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum"... it's not a matter of artfully incorporating the mottos in the designs of the coin, but trying to stick it wherever it will fit.

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I agree completely. E Pluribus Unum looks out of place on several coins. Perhaps, if unwilling to get rid of the mottos all together, they should start using edge-lettering to avoid "squeezing them in"

--gary

I really don't want to turn this into a religious or political argument.

but the "obvious" reasons to remove "In God We Trust" from our coins is not so obvious to me or a majority of Americans. As a religious fellow I like the motto.

Religion a side, and speaking as a numismatist, I think it would be a travesty to see a motto that has been on at least one coin since 1864 be removed and stricken because a fringe group from the left thinks that the separation of Church and state means that the word God should not be thought of or uttered within 500 miles of any school, court or government building.

I say just put Queen Elizabeth II on all our money....hahaha

Sorry for opening up a big can of worms. I'm sure that it's been discussed a thousand times before but to clarify:

Nobody is saying you can't say anything religous within 500 miles of a government building; that is an obvious exaggeration. The only requirement set by the 1st and 14th Amendments is that the government must be religion-neutral. It must not promote any religion over another, and it must not promote religion over non-religion and vice-versa (note that secularism IS NOT non-relgion. Non-religion would mean putting "God Does Not Exist" on our coins).

It does not matter what percentage of the people believe in God. We are a democracy, but a simple majority does not rule when it comes to the Constitution. For example, even if every single person in the country disagreed with something you said, you would still have a right to say it without being arrested for it. You can fly a Mexican flag over an upside-down American flag on your property if you want to, then take down the American flag and burn it, film it, and put it on YouTube if you want to!

You can be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, atheist, agnostic, anything in this country. All of these people make up the "WE" "In God We Trust" is supposed to represent. A national motto should represent all the people of a country. (Like E Pluribus Unum). As a motto, it fails to unite the country as a whole as national mottos are supposed to do.

Of course, there are worse things to worry about, but having "In God We Trust" is hypocritical and anti-American (note that I define an "anti-American policy" as being any policy that goes against the Constitution of the United States of America without having, as part of its policy, the requirement that a Consitutional amendment be ratified in order for it to be implemented.)

There is also the issue of putting God's name on money, a very unholy entity. It seems hypocritical for me from the religious perspective.

If we removed the motto, we would lose nothing. There would be a lot of temper-tantrums for sure, but the country would survive and people would go back to their lives. What do we gain? We remove that shred of religious influence on government that is staining the First and Fourteenth Amendments.