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Jefferson Nickels

Jefferson Nickels

Felix Schlag designed the original Jefferson nickel, winning a public competition in 1938 that drew 390 entries. Schlag was a German-born sculptor living in Chicago, not a Mint insider, and his selection was part of a broader trend in the 1930s toward opening coin design to outside artists rather than leaving everything to the Chief Engraver's office. His winning entry depicted Thomas Jefferson on the obverse and Monticello, Jefferson's Virginia home, on the reverse. The Mint made Schlag revise his original Monticello rendering, which had shown the building at a three-quarter angle, replacing it with a straight-on frontal view that was less dynamic but more architecturally precise. Schlag was not thrilled with the change. The frontal Monticello is a flat, somewhat lifeless image compared to what he originally proposed, and the coin has carried that compromise ever since. His initials, FS, did not appear on the coin until 1966, nearly three decades after the design entered production, an omission that bothered him for years.

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1938–presentYears struck
20Date/variety entries
Philadelphia, Denver, San FranciscoMints
Circulation Strikes Proofs NIFC / Special
Key date
Semi-key
Variety
Proof
Special
NIFC
Regular
DateVarietyMintageClassificationCK #
1964 SMS Semi-Key CK-1441
1965 SMS 2,360,000 NIFC CK-1444
1966 SMS 2,261,583 NIFC CK-1446
1967 SMS 1,863,344 NIFC CK-1448
1994-P SMS Special Uncirculated 167,703 Semi-Key CK-1531
1997-P SMS Special Uncirculated 25,000 Semi-Key CK-1541
2005-D Bison, Satin Finish 1,260,000 NIFC CK-1573
2005-D Western Waters, Satin Finish 1,260,000 NIFC CK-1576
2005-P Bison, Satin Finish 1,260,000 NIFC CK-1569
2005-P Western Waters, Satin Finish 1,260,000 NIFC CK-1571
2006-D Return to Monticello, Satin Finish 847,361 NIFC CK-1582
2006-P Return to Monticello, Satin Finish 847,361 NIFC CK-1580
2007-D Satin Finish 895,628 NIFC CK-1587
2007-P Satin Finish 895,628 NIFC CK-1585
2008-D Satin Finish 745,464 NIFC CK-1592
2008-P Satin Finish 745,464 NIFC CK-1590
2009-D Satin Finish 784,614 NIFC CK-1597
2009-P Satin Finish 784,614 NIFC CK-1595
2010-D Satin Finish 583,897 NIFC CK-1602
2010-P Satin Finish 583,897 NIFC CK-1600
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