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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;andrew289, post: 481287, member: 6463&quot;]More on the Nickel:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>When the public design contest was announced for a new nickel design, </p><p>approximately 390 artists entered for the $1,000 purse before the deadline of </p><p>April 15, 1938.&nbsp; The competing sculptors had to submit two plaster models.&nbsp; </p><p>The first sculpture, of the coin&#039;s obverse, was to be a lifelike portrait of the </p><p>United States&#039; third President, Thomas Jefferson, and the second was to be of </p><p>the new nickel&#039;s reverse depicting Jefferson&#039;s home, Monticello, which is </p><p>located near Charlottesville.&nbsp; The judges for the competition were three </p><p>prominent sculptors, and the Mint Director, Nellie Tayloe.&nbsp; Just nine days </p><p>after the deadline, the winner was announced.&nbsp; It was Felix Schlag.&nbsp; </p><p>Even though Schlag&#039;s designs won the contest, the federal Fine Arts Commission </p><p>rejected his design for the reverse of the coin.&nbsp; Schlag had captured the </p><p>more artistic perspective in a side view of the mansion, but the commission </p><p>insisted on a full frontal depiction minus the landscaping.&nbsp; Such a major </p><p>design change required a new thinner style of lettering to be use on the coin, </p><p>as well as a huge risk in the loss of detail on the building&#039;s facade due to the </p><p>depth of relief required.&nbsp; A refusal to comply would mean a forfeiture of </p><p>the prize money, so Felix Schlag did what was demanded of him.&nbsp; With the </p><p>designs completed, production began in the second week of September 1938.&nbsp; </p><p>The new nickel weighed 5 grams, with a composition of 25% nickel and 75% copper, </p><p>a diameter of 21.2 mm, a plain edge, and the mintmark appearing to the right of </p><p>Monticello.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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