CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT, WASHINGTON -- The United States Mint presented the Nation’s new Ocean in View 5-cent coin (nickel) to the American public in a ceremony today along the rugged Pacific coast at Washington’s Cape Disappointment State Park. It is the only nickel of the Westward Journey Nickel Series™ to have its debut on the West Coast.

This new nickel is inscribed with ‘Ocean in view! O! The joy!,’ based on Captain William Clark’s famous journal entry that celebrated the Corps of Discovery’s achievement. “The Ocean in View nickel commemorates an important moment in American history – Lewis and Clark’s reaching of the Pacific Ocean,” said Acting Director David Lebryk, who was joined by federal, state, tribal and other distinguished officials.

The ceremony opened with a welcome and blessing by Chinook Nation Vice Chairman Ray Gardner. Following remarks by Lewis and Clark author Rex Ziak, historian David Nicandri, and NOAA General Counsel James Walpole, Acting Director Lebryk and Chinook artist Millie Lagergren performed a ceremonial pouring of hundreds of shiny, new Ocean in View nickels from Lagergren’s Chinook basket. Each child also received a free Ocean in View nickel and the public exchanged dollar bills for $2 rolls of Ocean in View nickels.

The Ocean in View nickel is the fourth design in the United States Mint’s Westward Journey Nickel Series, which has followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition westward. The Ocean in View nickel represents the culmination of the explorers’ journey to the Western waters. The United States Mint launched the nickel series in 2004 with the Peace Medal nickel, followed by the Keelboat nickel, and then the American Bison nickel in March 2005. A law passed by Congress and approved by President Bush in April 2003, authorized the redesign of the Nation’s nickel for the first time since 1938 to commemorate the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Cape Disappointment was the first place in the Nation where Americans were able to exchange bills for the new coins and take them home. On Saturday, August 6, there will be another Ocean in View nickel exchange at Blue Lake Regional Park in Portland, Oregon. Americans can expect to receive the Nation’s new 2005 nickels, with a dramatic view of the Pacific Ocean coastline on the reverse (tails side) and a bold image of President Thomas Jefferson in profile on the obverse (heads side), within a few weeks. Bags and rolls of the Ocean in View nickel may be ordered on the United States Mint web site at www.usmint.gov or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).

Silver Spring, Maryland artist Joe Fitzgerald, a Master Designer in the United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program, designed both the obverse and reverse of the Ocean in View nickel. United States Mint sculptor-engraver Don Everhart sculpted the obverse, which is the same as that featured on the American Bison nickel. United States Mint sculptor-engraver Donna Weaver sculpted the reverse.

Free lesson plans about the Ocean in View nickels and the Westward Journey Nickel Series are available online at www.usmint.gov.

For a digital image of the 2005 Ocean in View Nickel,

Click here

News media: for b-roll video 2005 Ocean in View nickels being minted, call United States Mint Public Affairs: 202-354-7222.