Episode 2 of 2

Passage of the Coinage Act

When: April 22, 1864
Where: Washington, D.C.
Part of: 'In God We Trust' first appears on the US two-cent piece

The Coinage Act of 1864 was signed on April 22, authorizing bronze cents and two-cent pieces to address wartime coin shortages.

Opposition from Congressman Thaddeus Stevens regarding nickel usage was overcome. The Act allowed the Secretary of the Treasury to authorize the motto on one-cent and two-cent coins, marking the first legislative step for its appearance on US currency.

Sources

Two-cent piece (United States) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-08
In God We Trust Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-30

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.