The new Jefferson Nickels named the "Arms of Friendship" are available for pre-sale from the US Mint. www.usmint.gov
I've often thought about the symbolism of the "Peace Medal" design. Considering the history of events that followed the opening of the Western frontier, the depiction of a Red and a White hand shaking in friendship, seems somewhat sarcastic to me.
Well you have to take into consideration that the peace medal was created before the expansion. It was given to the leaders of various tribes in a peace offering. Now history tells us how well we (Americans) kept our peace. But I am glad to see a change in our coinage. It has been a long time coming.
Yes I agree, that at the time of Jefferson, Lewis and Clarke, the design was appropriate. However I think you can see that the results were far from "peaceful". This is not a point of contention for me, but merely an obsevation. I too, believe that commemorating the many accomplishments of President Jefferson is a great idea. And when we're through celebrating, it's nice to know that we can all go back "home".
March 15th seems to be the release date. Lets hope this new design helps to bring even more people into our wonderful hobby.
Denver = 28,080,000 Philly = 19,920,000 (To date) March 14th is the official release date in St. Louis. The mint estimates a total near 500 million for both mints bearing this peace medal design.
Hmmmm - I heard 900 million for this design - 900 million for design two this year. I'll double check.
I heard 900 million myself, but that was on the aol site. The mint figures keep changing. My initial numbers were out of CoinWorld Monday March 1st.
