You’ve probably held one today. Maybe it was rolling around in your cup holder or buried under a pile of old receipts in your wallet. It’s thick, silver-colored, and arguably the most durable-feeling coin in your pocket. But honestly, how often do you actually look at it? If you did, you’d see a profile of a man who changed the course of American history. The face on the US nickel belongs to Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States and the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.
It hasn't always been him.
For a long time, the nickel was a bit of a shapeshifter. Before Jefferson took over the real estate on the five-cent piece in 1938, the coin looked radically different. We're talking about a history that involves literal "half dimes," an indigenous warrior, and a buffalo that lived in a New York City zoo. The nickel we know now is a relatively modern invention, born out of a desire to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth.
Why Thomas Jefferson ended up on the US nickel
Back in 1938, the US Mint decided it was time to move on from the Buffalo nickel. Felix Schlag, a German-born sculptor, won a massive open competition to design the new coin. He beat out nearly 400 other artists. His prize? $1,000. That might not sound like much now, but in the tail end of the Great Depression, that was a life-changing sum.
Schlag’s design was clean. It was classic. On the "heads" side (the obverse), he featured a profile of Jefferson based on a bust sculpted by Jean-Antoine Houdon. If you’ve ever seen the statues of the Founding Fathers in Virginia, you’ll recognize the likeness. It’s stoic. Serious. The "tails" side (the reverse) featured Monticello, Jefferson’s famous primary plantation and architectural masterpiece located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia.
Why Jefferson, though? Honestly, it was a political and cultural slam dunk. Jefferson represented the expansion of the American West through the Louisiana Purchase. He was a thinker, an architect, and a polymath. By the late 1930s, the US government was on a kick of putting former presidents on coins—Lincoln had the penny, Washington had the quarter. Jefferson was the logical next step.
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The 2005 "New Face" of the Nickel
If you look at your change today, you might notice something weird. Some Jeffersons are looking sideways, and some are looking right at you. In 2004 and 2005, the Mint launched the Westward Journey Nickel Series. This was a big deal. It celebrated the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Initially, they kept Jefferson’s profile but changed the back of the coin to show things like a keelboat or a peace medal. But in 2005, they did something radical. They gave Jefferson a facelift. Joe Fitzgerald designed a new obverse that featured a close-up, cropped view of Jefferson's face, based on a 1789 portrait by Rembrandt Peale.
Then, in 2006, the Mint settled on the design we see most frequently today. Jamie Franki designed a "forward-facing" Jefferson. It’s a bold look. Most US coins feature profiles because they wear down less easily over time in circulation, but the 2006 Jefferson looks you dead in the eye. This specific image was inspired by a different 1800 portrait by Rembrandt Peale. It feels more modern, even though the subject died roughly 200 years ago.
Before Jefferson: The Buffalo and the Warrior
Before 1938, the nickel was a work of art. The "Buffalo Nickel" (1913–1938) is widely considered one of the most beautiful coins ever minted in the US. It didn't feature a president. Instead, James Earle Fraser designed a coin that honored the American West.
The face on the nickel back then was a composite portrait of three different Native American chiefs: Iron Tail (Sioux), Big Tree (Kiowa), and Two Moons (Cheyenne). Fraser wanted to capture a look that was truly "American" without relying on European-style portraiture.
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And that buffalo on the back? His name was Black Diamond. He wasn't some wild beast roaming the plains; he was actually a resident of the Central Park Zoo in New York. It’s kind of ironic that the symbol of the wild West was sketched in the middle of Manhattan.
Even Older: The Shield and the "Half Dime"
If you go back even further, things get even stranger. Before the "nickel" was even called a nickel, we had the half dime. These were tiny, thin silver coins. They were a pain to handle because they were so small.
After the Civil War, there was a massive shortage of precious metals. People were hoarding silver and gold. To get commerce moving again, the government introduced a five-cent coin made of copper and nickel. This is where the name comes from. It isn’t actually silver; it’s 75% copper and 25% nickel.
The first true nickel was the "Shield Nickel" (1866). No face. Just a big shield and some arrows. Then came the "Liberty Head" or "V" nickel in 1883, which featured the Goddess of Liberty. There’s a famous story about the 1883 version: the Mint forgot to put the word "Cents" on the back. It just had a Roman numeral "V." Con artists would gold-plate the coins and pass them off as five-dollar gold pieces. The Mint had to scramble to fix the design mid-year.
Fun Facts about the Nickel’s Composition
- Weight: Exactly 5 grams. This is actually useful if you need to calibrate a small scale.
- War Nickels: During World War II (1942–1945), nickel was a critical war material for armor plating. The Mint removed nickel from the coin and replaced it with a mix of silver, copper, and manganese. You can spot these "War Nickels" by the large mint mark (P, D, or S) above the dome of Monticello.
- Thickness: At 1.95 mm, it’s the thickest of all standard US circulating coins.
The Monticello Controversy
Jefferson’s home, Monticello, has been on the back of the nickel since 1938, with only a few short breaks. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and an architectural marvel. However, in recent years, there’s been more public conversation about what Monticello represents.
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While it’s a monument to Jefferson’s genius, it was also a plantation worked by enslaved people. This historical nuance is something modern historians and the US Mint have had to balance. When the nickel was redesigned in 2004-2006, there was talk of removing Monticello permanently, but the public (and the Virginia delegation in Congress) fought to keep it. It remains a symbol of the complicated, often contradictory nature of American history—a man who wrote "all men are created equal" while living in a home built and maintained by those who were not free.
How to Tell if Your Nickel is Rare
Most nickels in your pocket are worth exactly five cents. But because Thomas Jefferson has been on the coin for so long, there are some specific things to look for that might make a coin worth more to a collector:
- The 1950-D Jefferson: This is the "Key Date." Only about 2.6 million were made in Denver. If you find one in your change, it’s worth at least $10 to $15, even in rough shape.
- Full Steps: Collectors look at the back of the coin. If the steps leading up to Monticello are perfectly struck and clearly defined (5 or 6 distinct steps), the coin is worth a significant premium.
- The 1943-P 3 over 2: A famous "overdate" error where a 1943 stamp was put over a 1942 die. You'll need a magnifying glass for that one.
- Speared Bison: On the 2005 Kansas City commemorative nickels, look for a line that goes right through the buffalo's back. It’s a die gouge error and is highly sought after.
What's Next for the Five-Cent Piece?
There are often rumors that the US might stop making nickels and pennies. It actually costs the Mint more than five cents to make a nickel because the price of copper and nickel fluctuates. Currently, it costs about 8 to 11 cents to produce a single five-cent piece.
From a purely business perspective, the nickel is a loser for the Treasury. But for now, Jefferson isn't going anywhere. The coin is too ingrained in American vending machines and parking meters.
If you want to dive deeper into the world of "Jeffersoniana" or numismatics (the fancy word for coin collecting), your best bet is to start a "folder." You can buy them for a few dollars. It gives you a slot for every year and mint mark. It’s a cheap way to hold history in your hand.
Actionable Next Steps for Coin Enthusiasts
- Check your 2005 nickels: Look at the "tails" side. If it has a Buffalo, it’s a one-year-only commemorative. If it has the "Ocean in View" design, it’s even cooler—that was the first time the Mint used a landscape-style design.
- Look for the "P" above Monticello: Check any worn-looking nickels. If you see a large P, D, or S above the building on the back, you’ve found a silver War Nickel. It’s worth about $1.50 in silver melt value alone.
- Visit Monticello: If you're ever in Virginia, seeing the house on the back of your coin in person is a trip. It puts the scale of Jefferson’s life—and his contradictions—into perspective.
- Keep an eye on the "Full Steps": Next time you get a crisp, uncirculated nickel, flip it over. Use your phone’s camera to zoom in on the base of the building. If those lines are crisp and unbroken, put that coin in a protective sleeve. It’s a "gem" strike.
Understanding whose face is on the US nickel is just the entry point. Once you realize you're carrying around a tiny, metallic timeline of the Great Depression, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the architectural history of Virginia, "spare change" starts to feel a lot more interesting. Jefferson remains the face of the nickel not just because he was a president, but because his fingerprints are all over the foundation of the country—for better and for worse.
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