Jefferson Nickels
Monticello Rev. (1938-date) In 1938 the iconic Buffalo nickel was replaced with the Jefferson Nickel which features a portrait of the founding father on the obverse and a depiction of his home, the Monticello, on the reverse. This was a continuation of the trend that began in 1909 with the Lincoln cent, and furthered in 1932 with the Washington quarter. The movement was to use the portraits of famous individuals in lieu of the symbolic portraits of Liberty originally ordered by the Coinage Act of 1792. This five cent design was created by Felix Schlag whose work was chosen through an open competition between nearly four hundred submitting artists. While several commemorative issues replaced the design briefly in the early part of this century, this Schlag’s long-standing creation has remained in circulation today and is virtually unchanged.
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