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Interesting Facts About the Jefferson Nickel:
-- The Jefferson nickel was designed by Felix Schlag, who won $1,000 when his entry won a competition against 390 other artist.
-- The obverse features a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States and chief architect of the Declaration of Independence. On the reverse is Monticello, the estate Jefferson designed himself.
-- As an extremely hard metal, nickel became a critical war material for armaments, the U.S. Treasury replaced regular Jefferson nickels with an emergency silver-alloy type from 1942 to 1945.
-- To distinguish these coins from regular issues, large mintmarks appeared above the Monticello dome on the reverse. It was the first time that a "P" mintmark was used to indicate the principal Philadelphia Mint.
-- The Westward Journey nickel series emerged in 2004 and 2005, featuring new designs to commemorate the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
-- In 2006, Monticello returned to the reverse, while a new image of Jefferson facing forward was featured on the obverse. The cursive "Liberty" inscription is presented in Jefferson's own handwriting.
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