'Tail Side' Of Nickel Gets New Look

U.S. Mint: First Design Change In 65 Years

WASHINGTON -- After 65 years, the American nickel is getting its first makeover. Actually, it's getting two.

Thomas Jefferson's face will still be on the front, but the "tail side" will be different. Jefferson's home, Monticello, will be replaced first with scenes from the Louisiana Purchase and then with scenes from the Lewis-and-Clark expedition to commemorate their bicentennials.

In the first design, to be released in the spring of 2004, the nickel features clasped hands -- symbols of peace and friendship. It will also bear the inscriptions "Louisiana Purchase" and "1803" to commemorate the bicentennial of Jefferson's historic land purchase from France in 1803.

The new design was presented ceremonially Thursday to Native American Chiefs and other important leaders.

The second design, to be released in fall 2004, has an angled view of the keelboat with full sail that transported the Lewis and Clark expedition members and supplies as they traveled the rivers of the Louisiana Territory in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are in full uniform in the bow.

Jefferson arranged the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States. He also was the force behind the expedition by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Pacific coast and back.

The current nickel design was introduced in 1938. The image of Monticello will return to the nickel in 2006, according to the U.S. Mint.

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