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 Replies: 7 / Views: 2,518 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1291 Posts |
On a US coin, what specifically does the phrase "the motto" refer to? I have always thought it was either "E. Pluribus Unum" or "In God We Trust". Can it be other things, like "Liberty" or "United States of America"....?
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Pillar of the Community
921 Posts |
.The motto is the portion of the inscription that has special meaning to the people the coin was made for. The motto is often an inspirational message or an emotionally stirring phrase. The mottos on current U.S. coins are Liberty, In God We Trust, and E Pluribus Unum ("out of many, one").
The original national motto: "E Pluribus Unum"
The replacement motto: "In God We Trust:"
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5854 Posts |
If I understand it correctly a motto is message of special meaning to the intended audience. So all the examples listed by the OP with the exception of "United States of America" are mottos. A legend is word or phrase that identifies what the coin is or it's purpose. "United States of America" is a legend since it identifies which country it is from. Other examples are the denomination, date, or what it commemorates.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1291 Posts |
Awesome! Thank you, Cascade! I have to say that I'm surprised that "Liberty" is considered a motto. In my mind, a motto is more than a single word, but that article pretty well explains why it qualifies.
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Moderator
 Australia
16806 Posts |
I would regard a "motto" as any inscription or legend on a coin that does not have a direct, obvious meaning for the coin itself, in terms of telling you the who, what, when, where and why of the coin or it's issuer. "Liberty" was originally not a motto, but rather an identifier, telling you the name of the allegorical figure which the word usually appeared next to, just like the coins of Britain (which they replaced) told the colonists the name of the king depicted on them. When Ms Liberty herself was removed from the coinage but the word "Liberty" retained, it became just another motto. Logically, they should have replaced "Liberty" with a more useful identifier like "Lincoln", "Washington" etc., but it was apparently believed that the word "liberty" needed to be retained in obedience to the 1792 Coinage Act. So, ironically, the ASE used in the above-linked article to illustrate the terms is one of the few modern coins for which "Liberty" is not a motto, but an identifier. I've always regarded American coins as being very "wordy". The main cause of the wordiness is the use of three mottoes, where most countries manage to get by with either one, or none. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
Your welcome and think about it. Liberty IS MORE than just a word. I think we as a country have forgoten that all too much.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
807 Posts |
The only element which is legally referred to, in the text of the Act, as "motto" is "In God We Trust", adopted as the "National Motto" in the 1950s.
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Posted 04/22/2015 9:22 pm
