The 2003 Jefferson Nickel: The Last Of Its Kind

PCGS - The Jefferson nickel has been in use since 1938 and is a mainstay in United States circulation, joining the ranks of the Lincoln Cent and Washington quarter, launching in 1909 and 1932, respectively, and destined to become seemingly unending tributes to some of our nation's most important leaders. And while the Lincoln Cent and Washington quarter saw significant design modifications over the second half of the 20th century, the Jefferson nickel saw relatively little change during that same period.


Jefferson Nickel, 2003-S 5C, DCAM, PCGS PR70DCAM

During World War II, the national emergency required rations of everything from chocolate and beef to rubber and oil - and nickel, the latter of which was critical for making war artillery; so from late 1942 through 1945 the Jefferson Five-Cent was made from a special wartime alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese. In 1966, the "FS" initials of Jefferson nickel designer Felix Schlag were added onto the obverse just under Jefferson's bust. And in 1980, the "P" mint mark became a permanent fixture on Philadelphia-minted specimens after the first-ever P mint marks originally appeared on the wartime nickels 38 years earlier.

However, big changes were in store for the Jefferson nickel in the early 21st century, a time of ambitious coinage redesign initiatives that had also recently seen the launch of the 50 State Quarters in 1999 and the first Sacagawea dollars in 2000. The changes that came to the Jefferson nickel in 2004 were to honor the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which saw explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark stake out the 828,000 square miles of land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

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