In commemoration of the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark
expedition, the President enacted Public Law 108-15 to modify the Jefferson 5-cent coin
(nickel) to reflect images evocative of the historic expedition into the Louisiana Territory.
The United States Mint began the Westward Journey Nickel Series™ in 2004 with the
release of the Peace Medal and Keelboat nickels. In 2005, a contemporary image of
President Jefferson will appear on the nickel, along with two new reverse designs that
recognize the American Indians and wildlife encountered by the Lewis and Clark expedition
and the progress and culmination of the journey. Depictions of Monticello and Thomas
Jefferson will return to the nickel in 2006.
The obverse design for the 2005 nickels will bear, for the first time in 67 years, a
new likeness of America's third president, Thomas Jefferson. The "Liberty"
inscription on the coin is based upon Jefferson's own handwriting. The design is
based on the marble bust of Jefferson by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, completed
in 1789. The design was made age-appropriate to his presidency by utilizing later
paintings by Gilbert Stuart and Rembrandt Peale. The new obverse image of President
Jefferson replaces the image of President Jefferson that had been
on the nickel since 1938.
The design was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist, Joe
Fitzgerald, of Silver Spring, Maryland. United States Mint sculptor-engraver
Don Everhart sculpted the design.
The first of two new reverses on the 2005-dated nickel will feature the American bison,
recognizing the American Indians and wildlife encountered by the Lewis and Clark
expedition. Expedition journals described the buffalo, and it was an animal of
great significance to many American Indian cultures.
The design was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist, Jamie
Franki, of Concord, North Carolina. United States Mint sculptor-engraver Norman
E. Nemeth sculpted the design. The image of a buffalo adorned the
reverse of the nickel from 1913-1938.
In late 2005, the nickel will feature a scene of the Pacific Ocean and an inscription
reflecting an excited entry in the journal of Captain William Clark on November 7, 1805.
The design – a design based on a photograph by Andrew E. Cier of Astoria, Oregon
– visually depicts the expedition's exultation on believing they had finally reached
the Pacific Ocean after so many months of arduous travel. View Mr. Cier's photograph
here.
The design was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist, Joe Fitzgerald,
of Silver Spring, Maryland, and was sculpted by United States Mint sculptor/engraver Donna Weaver.
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