Posted on 09/16/2004 7:25:57 AM PDT by evets
WASHINGTON - There's change in store for Thomas Jefferson on the nickel that is. He's getting his first makeover since his likeness was put on the coin in 1938.
The makers of the nation's coins, the U.S. Mint, was unveiling Thursday designs for two new nickels. It's the latest in a series of design changes for the coins to honor two important events in U.S. history: the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The revamped nickels will be issued in 2005.
A new likeness of Jefferson, the third president, will be on the front of the two revised coins, while the "tails" side of will also get a new look.
The new nickels are part of the Mint's Westward Journey Nickel series, which began earlier this year. In March, the so-called Peace Medal nickel went into circulation, followed by the Keelboat five-cent piece in August.
Those were the first two nickels issued under the new series. Those nickels, however, kept the current image of Jefferson on the front, while featuring new designs on the back.
The design of the old nickels a centered profile of Jefferson on the front and his Virginia home, Monticello, on the back was introduced in 1938.
A 2003 law authorized the nickel's makeover. In 2006, an image of Monticello will return to the back of the five-cent piece and a likeness of Jefferson will be carried on the front.
Separately, a colorful new $50 bill with touches of red, blue and yellow will start showing up in banks, cash registers and wallets later this month. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which makes U.S. paper currency, says the new bill will go into circulation Sept. 28.
The fact that they have the time and money to waste doing utterly unimportant stuff like this once again proves that we need minimum 50% layoff of Federal workers.
Oops. Didn't mean to use the word "work" when referring to civil service people.
i think the new designs are fabulous. bringing back the buffalo nickel, one of the most popular and iconic designs in american coinage. plus a 3/4 profile, which i think is a first. very cool.
They are issuing 4 new nickels over 2004-2005 commemorating the Louisana Purchase and Lewis & Clark's journey. Two were issued in 2004. One had the "Peace Medal" design (the handshake) and the second had a Keel Boat. The next two are the ones on this article. I didn't know they were changing the image of Jefferson though.
Not sure i like it yet. I'd like to see all the coins redesigned, but going back to allegorical images of Liberty as was the case in the 1800's thru early 1900's.
TJ is one of my favorite presidents,
But I'm beginning to think they oughta boot 'em ALL off our coins.
The doggone design changes are just getting too dangblum political.
Bring back some of the classics like the Buffalo or Liberty nickel.
I really liked the way they looked.
I love collecting nickels...though Kristy Mc gave me a rough time trying to get her into
the sack...(large grain sack I collect nickles in that is...where the heck is your mind at anyway)
You haven't been paying much attention to the political spin this year, have you?
He IS facing west.
I agree, I don't mind the back but I don't care for the new face. I've already had to settle for seeing my paper money turned into monopoly money, I'd prefer it if my coinage didn't go all wobbly as well.
BINGO! Federal Reserve Bank is trying to standardize all world currencies to look very very similar.... which is why US currency and Australian Currency and EU bills etc now all pretty much look the same... It is disgusting the way they have turned the print bills into monopoly money... I am disheartened to see now they are going for the coins too.
I'll take a different tack...
Stop making the $1 dollar bill...that would force people to use the $1 dollar coin.
Millions of dollars would be saved......
FWIW-
From your keyboard to God's eyes...
(By the way if the trend continues, will the next Lady Liberty be running or flying? Once She got over being just a head, she went from a seated figure in 1837 to standing in 1907 to walking in 1916)...
"I agree. I don't like it either. Why do we have to keep changing everything???"
Exactly ! At some point we will have 52 different designs of the quarter in circulation, and the idiots making change don't even know enough to realize Bush on a $200 bill is not valid...
The flood of foreign coins the size of quarters has just begun, I've already been passed Philipine and Columbian, and of course Canadian.
My wife saw one of these the other day. Said it showed two hands clasped in a handshake.
I haven't seen either of the new designs.
*oh*
It could be worse. If the leftists had their way, he'd be portrayed whipping a slave.
I though he had a fling with a female slave, but was S&M popular then?
I still don't want it.
I don't know who said that, maybe Heraclitus. Actually, until the quarters started having different reverses for the states, our coins had been pretty boring...no major changes since the penny got a new reverse in 1959, other than the shortlived bicentennial reverse for the quarter, and coins that aren't used much (half dollars and dollars).
I wonder where the script version of "Liberty" came from--is that in Jefferson's handwriting?
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