The Jefferson Nickel has been the five-cent coin (abbreviated as 5¢) struck by the United States Mint since 1938, when it replaced the Buffalo Nickel. 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.
The reverse, with the exception of coins struck in 2004 and 2005, features Jefferson's home, Monticello. In 2004 and 2005, circulating commemorative designs were issued instead, honouring the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition from August 31, 1803, to September 25, 1806, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select group of U.S. Army and civilian volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The expedition made its way westward, and crossed the Continental Divide of the Americas before reaching the Pacific Coast.
President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to explore and to map the newly acquired territory, to find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and to establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local American Indian tribes. The expedition returned to St. Louis to report its findings to Jefferson, with maps, sketches, and journals in hand.
This coin, which has now been in circulation for 20 years, was issued during the second half of 2005 and features a view of the Pacific Ocean - the culmination of the expedition's westward journey. The obverse is a one-year only design, on which Jefferson faces right. |
| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin shows, within a plain border, the portrait of Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826) - the third President of the United States (1801 - 1809), facing right.
The artists' initials are in relief in small letters - on the left side on his scarf, JF for sculptor Joe Fitzgerald, and lower and to the right, DE for engraver Don Everhart.
Around above right, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST.
Horizontal, to the right of the portrait, the inscription Liberty in Thomas Jefferson's own handwriting. The small letters were traced from his draft of the Declaration of Independence; as the word is never capitalised in that document, Fitzgerald borrowed a capital L from Jefferson's other writings.
Around below, facing in the opposite direction to the legend, the date of issue: 2005.
The mint mark of the Denver Mint, the Philadelphia Mint or the San Francisco Mint is a small letter D, P or S respectively, located below "Liberty". |
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| Reverse | |
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At centre, the reverse shows a landscape with the Pacific Ocean in the background and hills covered with pine trees in the foreground. Overlaid on that, on three lines the inscription (in handwriting) Ocean in view! O! The joy! - a quote from the expeditions journal; in the original, "ocean" was spelled as "ocian" but this has been updated to the modern spelling on the coin.
The artists' initials are in relief on the lower ground of the landscape - on the left side, JF for Joe Fitzgerald, and on the right, DW for Donna Weaver.
Along the outer rim, around above is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM (from Latin: "Out of many, one") and the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Around below, LEWIS & CLARK 1805 and the face value and denomination, FIVE CENTS. |
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| Notes | The Philadelphia Mint struck 394,080,000 circulation coins and 1,160,000 Brilliant Uncirculated with satin finish.
The Denver Mint struck 411,120,000 circulation coins and 1,160,000 Brilliant Uncirculated with satin finish.
The San Francisco Mint only issued proofs. |
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