From 1938 until 2004, the copper-nickel coin’s obverse featured a profile depiction of founding father and third U.S. President Thomas Jefferson by artist Felix Schlag. Since 2006 Jefferson’s portrayal, newly designed by Jamie Franki, faces forward. The coin’s reverse is still the Schlag original, although in 2004 and 2005 the piece bore commemorative designs.
About Jefferson nickel in brief
From 1938 until 2004, the copper-nickel coin’s obverse featured a profile depiction of founding father and third U.S. President Thomas Jefferson by artist Felix Schlag. Since 2006 Jefferson’s portrayal, newly designed by Jamie Franki, faces forward. The coin’s reverse is still the Schlag original, although in 2004 and 2005 the piece bore commemorative designs. First struck in 1913, the Buffalo nickel had long been difficult to coin, and after it completed the 25-year term during which it could only be replaced by Congress, the Mint moved quickly to replace it with a new design. In late January 1938 the Mint announced an open competition for the new nickel design, with the winner to receive a prize of USD 1,000. Competitors were to place a portrait of Jefferson on the obverse, and a depiction of his house, Monticello, on the reverse. On the trial version of the coin, the name ‘Monticello’ was omitted, logically, because the building is portrayed as a vault at Fort Knox, a state archives, or a public library. In mid-July, the new version was submitted to the Fine Arts Commission for their recommendation, but may not have included the revised lettering. The Commission approved the revised version in mid- July, and the new coin was struck in October 1938. The design for the Buffalo Nickel is well regarded today, and has appeared both on a commemorative silver dollar and a bullion coin.
However, during the time it was struck, it was less well liked, especially by Mint authorities, whose attempts to bring out the full design increased an already high rate of die breakage. As nickel was a strategic war material during World War II, nickels coined from 1942 to 1945 were struck in a copper-silver-manganese alloy which would not require adjustment to vending machines. They bear a large mint mark above the depiction ofmonticello on thereverse. In 2004 and2005, the nickel saw new designs as part of the Westward Journey nickel series, and since 2006 has borne Schlag’s reverse and Franki’sObverse. The bust of Jefferson closely resembles his bust by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, which is to be found in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. In early May, it was reported that the Mint required some changes to Schlag’s design prior to coining. Officials disliked the lettering Schlag had used, a more modernistic style than that used on the eventual coin. The tree was another source of official displeasure; officials decided it was a palm tree and incorrectly believed Jefferson could not have been growing such a thing. When he did, he changed the reverse to plain view, of Mont icello, and substituted the mausoleum of Roman Roman building on the finished coin. In June 1966, Schlag did not include his initials in the design.
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This page is based on the article Jefferson nickel published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
