Mint releases more 'godless' dollars      

[June 20, 2007]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It looks like the U.S. Mint has struck again -- or not struck again, depending on how you look at it.

New dollar coins featuring John Adams are missing edge inscriptions including "In God We Trust," according to the Professional Coin Grading Service, a rare-coin authentication company based in Newport Beach, Calif.

The company said people have found hundreds of Adams dollar coins without the edge lettering, repeating a previous mistake. In March, an unknown number of George Washington dollar coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint without "In God We Trust," "E Pluribus Unum," and the year and mint mark inscribed on the edge.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Mint said the agency is looking into the reports.

After the Washington "godless dollars" were discovered, the Mint pledged to more closely monitor the striking process.

But a Detroit collector received smooth-edged Adams dollars in sealed containers from the Philadelphia Mint. There also are reports of the opposite problem -- Adams coins with edge lettering that has been double-struck, said Ron Guth, president of the Professional Coin Grading Service.

"It's too early to put a final price tag on the collector value of Adams presidential dollar errors because no one knows how many others will turn up," Guth said in a news release.

The Adams dollars, officially released into circulation May 17, are the second in a series of presidential coins slated to run until 2016.

[Associated Press]