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New nickel: Jefferson and a smile
Associated Press
Published January 12, 2006
WASHINGTON - Coming soon to a cash register near you - a barely smiling Thomas Jefferson looking straight at you from a new nickel that will end nearly a century of tradition for U.S. coins.
The Mint plans to begin shipping 80-million of the new five-cent coins today to the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. They will be the first of an estimated 1-billion new nickels scheduled to be put into circulation over the next year.
Since 1909 when Abraham Lincoln became the first president depicted on a circulating coin, all the presidential images have been in profile.
But in a break with that tradition, the new nickel has an image of Jefferson taken from an 1800 Rembrandt Peale portrait in which the nation's third president is looking forward, with just a hint of a smile. The word "Liberty" in Jefferson's handwriting is also shown, as is "In God We Trust."
On the back, the nickel features Monticello, Jefferson's Virginia home. Jefferson and Monticello had been on the nickel without change for 66 years until 2004.
In that year, the Mint began the "Westward Journey Nickel Series" to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase
The redesigned nickel is expected to be around for quite a while with no current plans for further changes.
Mint officials predicted that the new Jefferson nickels will start showing up in change drawers over the next four to six weeks.
[Last modified January 12, 2006, 01:25:23]
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