Showcasing Jefferson Nickels

HOW TO IDENTIFY VALUABLE VARIETIES

- JOSHUA MCMORROW-HERNANDEZ

Jefferson nickels don’t make headlines too often. You’re not bound to see any big stories about six-figure Jefferson nickels hammering on the auction block or come across many clickbait articles about valuable doubled dies among this classic series. But there’s a lot to love about Jefferson nickels, which have been a mainstay in circulation for generations.

The public is extremely familiar with the Jefferson nickel, which debuted in 1938 after a public competition to find a new design to replace the aging Buffalo motif that had appeared on the five-cent coin since 1913. German-born sculptor Felix Schlag won $1,000 for his winning design of Thomas Jefferson on the obverse and the president’s private Virginia mansion Monticello on the reverse.

TAKING A SECOND LOOK

After the Jefferson nickel’s introduction in 1938, the coin’s overall design remained relatively unchanged for 66 years. The only exceptions were relatively minor changes. During World War II, rations prompted an alteration to the coin’s composition to save nickel for military artillery. An emergency 35% silver alloy was used for the five-cent coin from 1942 through 1945, and this was denoted by the placement of a large mintmark over the dome of Monticello. Later, in 1966, Schlag’s initials (“FS”) were added under Jefferson’s bust. Minor die enhancements followed in the 1970s and ’80s.

The nickel saw vast changes in 2004 with the start of the two-year Westward Journey program. The circulating commemoratives honor the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, entailing four reverse designs and overhauls to the obverse in 2005 and 2006.