Mint
Releases More 'Godless' Dollars
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 19, 2007
PHILADELPHIA
(AP) -- It looks like the U.S. Mint has struck again -- or
not struck again, depending on how you look at it. New dollar
coins featuring John Adams are missing edge inscriptions including
''In God We Trust,'' according to the Professional Coin Grading
Service, a rare coin authentication company based in Newport
Beach, California.
The company said people have found hundreds of Adams dollar
coins without the edge lettering, repeating a previous mistake.
In March, an unknown number of George Washington dollar coins
were struck at the Philadelphia Mint without ''In God We Trust,''
''E Pluribus Unum,'' and the year and mint mark inscribed
on the edge.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Mint said the agency is looking
into the reports.
After the Washington ''godless dollars'' were discovered,
the Mint pledged to more closely monitor the striking process.
But a Detroit collector received smooth-edged Adams dollars
in sealed containers from the Philadelphia Mint. There also
are reports of the opposite problem -- Adams coins with edge
lettering that has been double-struck, said Ron Guth, president
of the Professional Coin Grading Service.
''It's too early to put a final price tag on the collector
value of Adams presidential dollar errors because no one knows
how many others will turn up,'' Guth said in a news release.
The Adams dollars, officially released into circulation May
17, are the second in a series of presidential coins slated
to run until 2016.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Jun 19, 2007 at 10:01 p.m. ET