CONA April 2021 Newsletter

When: 7 p.m., April 21, 2021
Oakstone Academy: 900 State St. Westerville, Ohio 43081
Topic:  In God We Trust
Speaker:  Bill Bierly

April Meeting

It took 13 months, but we’ve come full circle. Last March, the pandemic was just beginning and people were either afraid or prohibited from traveling and gathering. Now with a significant portion of the U.S. adult population fully vaccinated, life is beginning to return to normal.— Gerry

In God We Trust

Longtime CONA member Bill Bierly, author of In God We Trust: Origins of the National Motto, will talk about how that phrase came to be.

Our national motto debuted on United States coinage during the chaos and heartache of the American Civil War. It has appeared on our money ever since. Numismatic researcher Bill Bierly has dug deep into the origins and history of In God We Trust. Now he tells its full story, introducing Reverend Mark Watkinson, the preacher who rallied the Treasury Department to recognize Almighty God in some form on our coins . . . Mint Director James Pollock, former governor of Pennsylvania, a commanding figure who worked toward the same vision . . . and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, nephew of an Episcopal bishop, who marshalled our nation’s vast resources and financed the war with bold innovations.

President Abraham Lincoln figures in the tale, as does a cast of military generals, wealthy industrialists, poets and artists, powerful bankers, and everyday Americans, North and South.

Bill shows how the upheaval of the Civil War  but the very foundations of modern American banking and finance.

Bill will be happy to sign copies of his book at the meeting.

He plans to bring a few to sell. The book is also available for $29.50 (free shipping) from Amazon or $29.95 ($5.95 shipping) from Whitman.

March Presentation

Chris P. traced the genealogical history of the Queen’s Beasts, the ten heraldic statues that were in front of Westminster Abbey for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, and which inspired the Royal Mint to issue a series of coins beginning in 2016.

Upcoming Speakers

May: Show and tell. I’m looking for 5-10 people who will speak for five minutes or so on something special from their collection.
Spence Sunderland, 1913 Prussia 2 mark
Steve R., Documenting your collection
John R., Ptolemaic bronze
Bill K., Jefferson nickels
Gerry Tebben, NCAPR counterstamp

If you had volunteered to be a part of this and your name is not listed above, please let me know. Some things have gone missing in the last year. If you want to be added to the list, please let me know that, too. There’s plenty of room for more speakers. There will be no speakers medal for this. June, etc. … Speakers needed

By: Gerry Tebben

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