New Nickels

I missed this piece of news, but here is what I found out about all these new nickels roaming about…

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.

2004 Louisiana Purchase/Peace Medal

The first of two new reverses on the 2004-dated Jefferson nickel will feature a rendition of the reverse of the original Indian Peace Medal commissioned for Lewis and Clark's expedition, bearing the likeness of America's third president on one side, and symbols of peace and friendship on the other. The medals were presented to Native American chiefs and other important leaders as tokens of goodwill at treaty signings and other events.
The design, by United States Mint sculptor/engraver Norman E. Nemeth, features two hands clasped in friendship - one with a military uniform cuff, symbolizing the American government, and the other with a silver band adorned with beads and a stylized American eagle, representing the Native American community with whom the United States sought good relations.

2004 Keelboat

In late 2004, the 2004-dated Jefferson nickel will feature an angled, side-view of the keelboat with full sail that transported members of the expedition and their supplies through the rivers of the Louisiana Territory in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. Built to the specifications of Captain Lewis, the 55-foot keelboat could be sailed, rowed, poled like a raft, or towed from the riverbank. The design, by United States Mint sculptor/engraver Al Maletsky, shows Captains Lewis and Clark in full uniform in the bow of the keelboat.

2005 President Jefferson with Handwritten Liberty

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.

2005 American Bison

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.
2005 Ocean in view! O! The joy!
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 visually depicts the expedition’s exultation on believing they had finally reached the Pacific Ocean after so many months of arduous travel.

Here are the Quarters to be released in 2005