The American two-cent coin is one of the shortest lived coins in the nation's history, but it made a prolific patriotic statement.
The American two-cent piece, also known as the "shield two-cent coin," was a bronze coin first struck in 1864 and lasted until 1873. It appeared in the peak of the Civil War era (1861-1865) and at a time when Americans needed it most. Even though its 9-year span is one of the shortest lived coins in American history it has some very special significance and will always have a place in American culture.
A coin about the size of the penny today, the two-cent coin has some unique design characteristics. On the front the coin displays a shield with two arrows criss-crossed behind it. There are grape leaves draped around the shield and a banner above the shield proudly displays the well-known motto of "In God We Trust." The back of the coin displays the words "United States of America" in a semi-circle around the outside of the coin. In the center is a wheat wreath with "2 cents" printed on the inside of the wreath. This particular coin was designed by Chief Engraver, James Longacre. Longacre was a talented artist appointed to this position on September 16, 1844. He had many assistants but most new pattern designs made during his tenure were from his own hand. There are also some varieties that are of interest to coin collectors. In 1864 there was a large motto and a small motto printed. The small motto coins are considerably scarcer and command much higher premiums in all grade levels. Collectors have also identified a scarce and very valuable double-died error from 1867. The coins of 1873 come in two varieties, one has a closed 3 in the date and the other has an open 3.
During the Civil War the circulating of coinage became one of the nation's first casualties. Gold and silver coins made a hasty exit from the circulation as citizens began pulling all base-metal coins out of their spending pockets and putting them aside for safe keeping for harder times. By the beginning of 1863 virtually all US minted coins were missing from circulation. Resourceful entrepreneurs came up with a replacement: a penny-sized bronze token which carried an implied promise of redemption in goods, services or money. This replacement was known as a "Civil War token." Civil War tokens were thinner but about the same size as an Indian Head cent but they were made of a cheaper bronze metal. The National Treasury and US Mint had long assumed that the nation would reject "fiat-money." That is, money whose value greatly exceeded the worth of the metal they contained. Once these Civil War tokens were issued the government saw that the general populace was willing to accept this form of money. Mint Director, James Pollock, brought this realization to attention in his annual report of October 1, 1863. Three months later Pollock sent a letter to Salmon P. Chase, the Treasury Secretary, and urged him not only to make a metallic makeover of coins in general but also to introduce a new coin: the two-cent coin. His reasoning included that this new cent would do double the work of the penny, was cheaper to make and because of its metallic content (it was more malleable) it was easier to produce, which allowed for a higher number of coins to be produced.
The two-cent coin harbors many "firsts" in its interesting and unique history. It was the first coin to feature a shield as a stand-alone motif. It was the first 2-cent coin in our nation's history. Although, twice before in 1806 and 1836 Congress had considered proposals for two-cent coins made of billon (silver debased with a high percentage of copper). However, it was determined that such coins would be easy to counterfeit and therefore were never minted. This was not the case in 1863 and the urgent need for coinage gave birth to the two-cent coin.
The final and most important "first" that this coin is famous for is the motto "In God We Trust." It is said that at a time when the nation was torn apart the need for religion was more evident than in recent times prior to the Civil War. Reverend Mark R. Watkinson, a Baptist minister from Ridleyville Pennsylvania is credited with urging Secretary Chase to recognize the Almighty God in some form on U.S. coins. Chase had been considering placing some such wording on coins for quite some time. But to do so would require the approval of the Congress and also to stop current production on a coin in order to change the design. When the approval came for the two-cent coin it helped ease the economical strife and gave Chase the chance he needed to include a religious motto on a coin without stopping production of current coinage. Up until this time U.S. coinage had never made a reference to a higher supreme being, but it is said that there are no atheists on the battlefield and the nation needed to know that despite the differences of wartime viewpoints, the nation was still united under one God.
However, Chase and Reverend Watkinson can not be credited with the exact wording of the saying but rather the motto evolved in the design process. Longacre designed two patterns for the coin with different designs and inscriptions. One pattern featured a right-facing portrait of George Washington with the words "God and Our Country." The other pattern is the one that was accepted and minted. The use of the phrase "In God We Trust" was not made a law by Congress at the time of the minting of the two-cent piece took place. But, Congress did pass legislation on April 22nd, 1864 that gave the Treasury the authority to add the motto at its own discretion. This act of legislation certainly started a trend. In 1865 the authority extended to include gold and silver coins and by 1908 the motto's use on gold and silver became mandatory. Finally, in 1955 President Eisenhower signed a law that required the inscription to be in all U.S. coins. By then, of course, all coins already had the motto by the Treasurer's discretion; Eisenhower just made it a law.
The two-cent coin certainly started off well for its time era; in 1864 the mint turned out nearly 20 million coins and in 1865 it produced 13.6 million. But by the end of the Civil War public interest and acceptance were waning. The public no longer saw a need to hoard the base-metal coins and they began to reappear in circulation. In 1866 the mintage dropped to about 3.2 million coins and by 1870 the numbers were below the one-million mark. In 1872 only 65,000 pieces were struck, making this year very scarce for collectors. The rarest year, despite its more recent time, is 1873. Production had ultimately ceased and only proofs were struck (a proof is a special process of producing coins of exceptional brilliance and quality).
Within its short history the two-cent coin certainly had an impact and without it the content and design of current coins might be very different, even thought it stands today as one of the most economically unsuccessful coins in American history.
