(plural paradigm shifts) 1  A radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new one, necessitated when new scientific discoveries produce anomalies in the current paradigm. ( US) A radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new belief.
The use of IN GOD WE TRUST has not been uninterrupted. The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883, and did not reappear until production of the Jefferson nickel began in 1938. Since 1938, all United States coins bear the inscription.
Finally, on April 2, 1792, Congress approved an Act requiring coins to be minted bearing the words United States of America and an impression emblematic of liberty, with an inscription of the word Liberty, and the year of the coinage.... This was the first major step in establishing our national coinage system.