The 1938 Jefferson Nickel
The past 20 years have seen remarkable changes to the lowly Jefferson nickel, and there are no doubt further changes to come. The cost of making a nickel is somewhere around 10 cents, depending upon current costs in the metals market. The last major artistic change came in 2004 and 2005 when special reverses were used to commemorate the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Coast.
At the same time that the reverses were temporarily changed, the obverse was given a new portrait of Thomas Jefferson, one far removed from the one done by Felix Schlag in 1938. Monticello was of course returned to the reverse in 2006, and there have been no further changes since that time.
The original change in 1938 to the Jefferson nickel did not go smoothly. It took time and effort to produce the nickel.
The definitive concept of a Jefferson nickel was born in the waning weeks of 1937 when high officials of the Franklin Roosevelt Administration decided that it was time to honor the first Democrat to hold the presidency. It was, despite the political overtones, a good choice as Jefferson had not only served the nation well as president but had also written the essential parts of the Declaration of
