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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;wiggam007, post: 1352753, member: 18436&quot;]One of my favorite series is the Jefferson Nickel.&nbsp; In fact, if you look back at my very first post on CoinTalk, it was a wiki article that I wrote for this series.&nbsp; While some people see this coin as being boring, an example of many of the things wrong with modern coin design, I find a certain allure to these coins.&nbsp; However, what I enjoy more than anything about this coin is its history.&nbsp; So, let us take a look at the story of this modern coin.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Origins</b></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1938 saw the 25[SUP]th[/SUP] year of coining the Buffalo Nickel and the Mint was interested in changing the design.&nbsp; After the success of the 1932 change for the Quarter to feature George Washington, it was decided that the new Nickel design should also feature a portrait of a Founding Father.&nbsp; Ms. Nellie Tayloe Ross, the current mint director, was an ardent admirer of Ben Franklin and suggested he be featured on the coin.&nbsp; However, it was decided that the person on the coin should be Thomas Jefferson since it was the 200[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary of his birth.&nbsp; As a side note, Ross eventually succeeded in getting Franklin featured on the half dollar in 1948.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Rather than give the job to one of the employees of the Mint, a competition was created with the prize of $1000 dollars going to the artist who was chosen.&nbsp; Almost 400 hundred people entered the competition.&nbsp; Here are a few of the designs that were submitted but not accepted:</p><p>&nbsp;[ATTACH]157101.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p>&nbsp;<a href="http://stacksbowers.com/auctions/AuctionLot.aspx?LotID=235632" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://stacksbowers.com/auctions/AuctionLot.aspx?LotID=235632" rel="nofollow">http://stacksbowers.com/auctions/AuctionLot.aspx?LotID=235632</a></p><p>[ATTACH]157102.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><a href="http://www.cointalk.com/t64015-2/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.cointalk.com/t64015-2/">http://www.cointalk.com/t64015-2/</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Out of all these designs, the one submitted by a German immigrant, Felix Schlag was selected.&nbsp; However, his original design was not as we saw it when it finally went into production.&nbsp; Here are some pattern coins that were made from his original designs:</p><p>[ATTACH]157094.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]157095.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><a href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&amp;campid=5335874456&amp;toolid=10001&amp;mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F1938-Jefferson-Nickel-Award-Winning-Design-Proof-and-BU-%2F200628298681" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&amp;campid=5335874456&amp;toolid=10001&amp;mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F1938-Jefferson-Nickel-Award-Winning-Design-Proof-and-BU-%2F200628298681" rel="nofollow">http://www.ebay.com/itm/1938-Jefferson-Nickel-Award-Winning-Design-Proof-and-BU-/200628298681</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A display panel signed by Schlag with a proof 1938 Nickel:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]157096.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cointalk.com/t58995/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.cointalk.com/t58995/">http://www.cointalk.com/t58995/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>This design was used until 1942 when the United States entered World War II.</p><p><b>Design and Composition Changes 1942-1945</b></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The composition of a standard nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel.&nbsp; However, after the United States joined the Allies in 1941, it became clear that metal allocations for the mint would not be able to be met.&nbsp; In order to free up these strategic resources for military applications, the mint set about changing the composition of the coins which used the most of these materials.&nbsp; Of course, chief among these changes was the cent which became steel with a zinc coating.&nbsp; However, the nickel also needed to be changed in order to free up more of these resources.&nbsp; The one resource that the mint had plenty of was silver, as it was not needed in large quantities for the war effort.&nbsp; They combined the silver (35%) with copper (56%) and manganese (9%) to produce an alloy which would still work in vending machines and would free up the nickel and some of the copper.&nbsp; To indicate coins with this change in alloy, the mint also moved the mint mark, which had been placed to the lower right of Monticello, to above it and dramatically increased its size. </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There are two major impacts that came about because of this on the coin collecting community.&nbsp; The first is that it offers roll searchers and other collectors of silver coinage another chance to find these coins for face value.&nbsp; This is especially true because many people do not realize that this change had been made, and so there are still quite a few war nickels in circulation.&nbsp; The second impact is toning.&nbsp; While the standard composition of nickels can tone, usually into a blue, the war nickels tone much more readily due to the silver content.&nbsp; However, the addition of the manganese also affected the color of the toning.&nbsp; Many war nickels, especially those that have circulated, end up with just a dark tarnish.&nbsp; But, for those uncirculated examples, a wide variety of toning is available with a vast arrange of colors, especially greens.</p><p><br /></p><p>After the end of World War II, the standard design and composition were again resumed.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Post WWII design changes</b></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; During the time after the war, there were a number of minor changes made to the nickel.&nbsp; Starting in 1966 the initials of Felix Schalg were added to the coin design under the bust of Jefferson.&nbsp; In addition, the mint mark was moved from the reverse of the coin to the obverse starting in 1968.&nbsp; However, the largest change took place in 2004. </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Aside from being the person who wrote the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson is best known for the Louisiana Purchase and the subsequent expedition he sent into it.&nbsp; The bicentennial of this expedition was in 2004-2005 and it was decided that they should be commemorated on the nickel.&nbsp; Four different reverses were designed for it, two produced each year, combined with a new portrait of Jefferson for 2005. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>After this run, there was some debate on whether or not changes would be made to the coin.&nbsp; Due to some political pressure, the reverse returned to the design of Monticello which had been on the coin previously.&nbsp; However, a new portrait was done for the obverse featuring Jefferson looking forward rather than the traditional profile view.&nbsp; This new obverse was done by Jamie Franki.&nbsp; These are the designs currently being used by the mint.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Collecting Jefferson Nickels</b></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One of the great things about the Jefferson Nickel series is that it is fairly easy to complete.&nbsp; There are only a few dates which have any sort of substantial value.&nbsp; Notable in this category are the 1938 coins, the 1939 D and S, and the “key date” of the series, 1950 D.&nbsp; In all of these cases, the coins are not all that rare and Mint State condition coins can be had for $50 and often times well under. </p><p>Jefferson Nickels also provide an opportunity for roll searchers as it is still very possible to find the entire series in circulation.&nbsp; Although the 1950 D was hoarded by collectors and dealers at the time, there is still a small chance to find them in circulation because the number produced by the mint was a whopping 2.5 million.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Where collecting Jefferson nickels can get expensive is in finding examples that are well struck and show “Full Steps.”&nbsp; This designation, which often appears as FS on certified examples, refers of the steps on the reverse of the coin.&nbsp; There are six steps on the design of Monticello, but on many business strike coins there are only a few of these complete.&nbsp; Because of this, a coin which shows five or six steps which are complete and not impaired can have large premiums.&nbsp; However, on some issues these five step coins can be fairly common.&nbsp; This is particularly true on the nickels during WWII.&nbsp; Presumably the fact that nickel, a very hard metal, was replaced with silver, a much softer metal, made the strike on the coins much easier and thus more detail was imparted.</p><p><br /></p><p>Oops, guess I am still late.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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