Treasury Explains Mystery Dollars; U.S. Government Still Trusts in God

Don't bother to hoard your Series 1935G dollar bills; even though they lack the motto "In God We Trust," they won't be worth more than $1.

The CRIMSON learned last week from several Harvard students that a new series of dollar bills was in circulation--one without the motto that Congress authorized in 1955 yet with the signatures of the present Treasurer and Secretary of the Treasurer.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the series date of a dollar bill indicates the year in which that design was adopted. Prior to the passage of Public Law 140 of the 84th Congress which required the words "In God We Trust" to appear on the back of all dollar bills, the series in circulation was 1935.

Changes Made in 1955

The first issue of a series has no letter after the date. Each time the signatures on the bill change, however, a letter of the alphabet is added after the year. Thus the second issue of Series 1935 was Series 1935A. Since no major change in currency design was adopted until the 1955 legislation, the 1935 pattern carried all the way through Series 1936F which bore the signatures of Ivy Baker Priest and Robert B. Anderson.

Then with the appearance of the motto on the back of bills came a new series: Series 1957, also with the signatures of Priest and Anderson. When the Kennedy Administration came to office the change of personnel was recorded as Series 1957A which showed Elizabeth Rudel Smith as Treasurer of the United States and C. Douglas Dillon as Secretary of the Treasury.

At the present time, most one dollar bills in circulation are either 1957's or 1957A's, although a few of the old 1935F's can be found. Last week's discovery was that a new series seems to have been issued with little publicity: Series 1935G with the names of Smith and Dillon and, like all 1935 bills, without the words "In God We Trust."

After much fruitless investigation, the CRIMSON succeeded in reaching someone who could clear up the great currency mystery: Mr. Henry Holtzclaw, Director of the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Holtzclaw emphasized that Public Law 140 said the motto was to be added "at such time as new dies for currency are adopted."

Since the Bureau is in the process of switching from flatbed to rotary presses, the motto is put on all bills printed from rotary dies, about one-third of the total. All bills still printed on flatbed presses, however, remain without "in God We Trust." Eventually, all dollars will carry the motto.