UPDATE: Presidential U.S. $1 Coins

"In God We Trust" moves to front of coins
“With the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, Congress reversed its previous specifications and instructed the U.S. Mint to move the “In God We Trust” motto from the edge to the front or back of the presidential $1 coins ‘as soon as is practicable.’ This change will not take place until the ninth coin in the series is issued in 2009” (Snopes.com).

According to the U.S. Mint, the $1 coins, featuring our Nation’s Presidents in the order in which they served, have been redesigned and will prominently display “In God We Trust” on the front (obverse) side of the series starting with William Henry Harrison, ninth president of the United States of America (See rendering).

A Flash graphic shows the front (obverse) design, edge lettering and the Liberty (reverse) side of the first coin honoring George Washington in the series of U.S. Presidential $1 coins. The lettering incused as edge inscriptions include the year of minting, the mint mark, the motto from the Great Seal of the United States, “E Pluribus Unum,” and the current national motto of the United States, “In God We Trust,” as used in the first eight coins of the series (U.S. Mint).

Coins released without “In God We Trust” -- A quality control problem
A two-step process is used for coins struck for circulation. “In the first step, the blanks are fed into a coining machine which strikes the obverse and reverse designs onto the coins, and dispenses the coins into a large bin. In the second step, the bin is transported to the edge-incusing machine, into which the coins are fed...” (U.S. Mint). If, as reported and circulated via email and websites, early coins were released for circulation without going through the second step, then the issue would be one of quality control and the number of coins so released would be limited.

Had citizens not expressed their displeasure in the coins’ lack of/or placement of “In God We Trust,” it is doubtful that the U.S. Presidential $1 Coins yet to be released would have been redesigned at the behest of Congress. Thus, this is “change we can believe in” brought about by the people.

Now, how about “E Pluribus Unum”? And what about mint mark and year of minting? Should any U.S. Coins have edge-incused lettering?