Newspaper readers are a discerning lot, and you never know exactly what will set them off. I can tell you this much, though: it's always the story that you least expect -- the one that seems most inoffensive -- that's certain to pack the most dynamite.

An article in today's You Inc. section of the Erie Times-News is a case in point. The daily guide to the business of life features a package on the new George Washington dollar coins, which went into circulation on Feb. 15.

Even though a large team of inspectors at the mint was assigned to check the coins, an unknown number of Washington dollar coins were mistakenly struck without inscriptions on their edges, including some without the words: "In God We Trust." They made it past inspectors and into circulation.

Two things happened immediately. Collectors began hoarding the coins -- getting up to $600 apiece for them on the Internet -- and many tens of thousands of other citizens were outraged that the "In God We Trust" inscription was missing.

I've taken more than a dozen calls about this, and, this morning, a woman told me there's no way the coins could have made it past inspectors, unless the inspectors wanted it to happen.

"So, you're saying it's a conspiracy?" I aksed.

"You're darned right it is," she replied.

When I said I didn't think it was worth it for the financial gain, she said, "Are you dense? It's not about the money, it's about the government's desire to remove all vestiges of God. They started with our public schools, and now it's advanced to our money."

Oh. Then she went on to tell me how angry she is about the headline above the story in today's newspaper: "New dollar not so divine." The woman was highly insulted, and she wasn't alone.

So many people called to complain bitterly about the coins and the newspaper's story that I was beginning to suspect a conspiracy.

It shows, I think, how sensitive some readers are about religion -- and politics. Several callers charged that the "coin fiasco" was designed to "humiliate and embarrass President Bush." I told them I don't get that at all, but my job as public editor is to explain, not argue the point. So, we agreed to disagree.

After a challenging Friday morning, if I see any Washington dollar coins without the "In God We Trust" inscription on the edge, I won't take them to eBay. I'll do as I promised Mrs. Edmunds: I'll drop such coins into the collection basket at church.

-- Kevin Cuneo

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