“It is a noble idea,” he said. “It will be recognized as a gesture of friendship on the part of a victorious government toward its late enemy. I shall be glad to handle it for you.” Borglum then went to President Calvin Coolidge, and what had looked like an almost impossible job was finished. Coolidge, the skeptical, taciturn and unemotional, broke out with one of his rare enthusiasms. He would give the matter his personal support, he said. And he did. Congressman McFadden, who had helped Gutzon in the aircraft investigation, introduced in the House the bill authorizing the coin, and presently it was through both houses. But the making of a model for a coin and having it approved by the Treasury Department and the Art Commission and the Director of the Mint entails countless visits to offices in Washington, Philadelphia and New York, and it is a tedious process. Gutzon made nine different models before he got the approval of every detail. There were arguments about the style of the lettering and the arrangement of the figures. One member of the Art Commission thought that the eagle’s legs were too gaunt and lifelike and should be enclosed in feather pantalettes. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon wanted to know why the motto “In God We Trust” had been placed over the heads of Lee and Jackson. “Because they did trust Him,” said Gutzon, “and were sincere in their belief that they were right.” The secretary smiled. “And the thirteen stars,” he went on. “What are they there for?” Gutzon knew then that his trouble was over. “It all depends on which side of Mason and Dixon’s line you happen to live,” he said. “They could, of course, stand for the thirteen rebellious states.” And Mellon laughed and gave in. The first coin was struck at the mint in Philadelphia on January 21, 1925. The first model had been approved six months before, and the memorial fifty-cent piece differed from it in only one important particular. The figure of President Jefferson Davis, a part of the first group projected on Stone Mountain, did not appear on the coin. That was one concession the victorious government declined to make. CHAPTER TWENTY _MONEY_ It became evident during the summer of 1924 that the Confederate memorial of Stone Mountain was on its way to a considerable solvency. The memorial half dollar would presently be minted, whatever the Yankee quarrels about the status of Jefferson Davis and the need for pants on eagles. In the meantime a new project of the inventive David Webb showed signs of lucrative popularity.