Who Is on the Nickel — Jefferson Since 1938

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was the third President of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1809. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Secretary of State under George Washington from 1790 to 1793, and Vice President under John Adams from 1797 to 1801. Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, doubling the size of the United States, and founded the University of Virginia in 1819. He designed his Virginia estate, Monticello, which has appeared on the nickel's reverse since the coin's debut in 1938. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 — the 50th anniversary of the Declaration's adoption.

Felix Oscar Schlag (1891–1974), a German-American sculptor who emigrated to the United States in 1929, won the US Mint's 1938 design competition over 390 competitors and received a $1,000 prize. His winning obverse portrait drew on a marble bust of Jefferson sculpted by Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1789. The Mint revised Schlag's three-quarter-perspective Monticello reverse to a frontal view designed by John R. Sinnock before the coin entered production. Schlag's obverse portrait has remained the basis of the coin's obverse through multiple reverse changes, and his initials 'FS' were finally added to the coin in 1966.

The Buffalo nickel had been in circulation since 1913. Under existing law, a design had to run at least 25 years before the Mint could change it without congressional action; by 1938 that threshold was met. The Treasury Department chose Jefferson as the subject, reflecting his standing among the Founding Fathers most closely identified with the nation's founding. The Mint held an open design competition in 1938, specifying an authentic portrait of Jefferson on the obverse and a representation of Monticello on the reverse. Schlag's winning design entered production that same year and has been struck continuously since 1938, making the Jefferson nickel one of the longest-running US coin designs.

Thomas Jefferson — Portrait Subject Biography

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell plantation in the Colony of Virginia. Educated at the College of William and Mary, he read law under the prominent Virginia attorney George Wythe and was admitted to the bar in 1767. Jefferson entered politics as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and quickly distinguished himself as a skilled drafter of political documents, a talent that would define his historical legacy.

In 1776, Jefferson was selected by the Second Continental Congress to serve on the Committee of Five tasked with drafting a formal declaration of independence from Britain. He was the principal author of the resulting Declaration of Independence, adopted July 4, 1776. The document's assertion that 'all men are created equal' and are endowed with unalienable rights became a cornerstone of democratic political thought worldwide. Jefferson served as Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781 during a difficult period of British military incursions.

Jefferson served as the United States' first Secretary of State under President George Washington from 1790 to 1793, navigating deep disagreements with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton over federal financial policy. These disagreements helped crystallize the first American political parties — Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans opposing Hamilton's Federalists. Jefferson served as Vice President under John Adams from 1797 to 1801, then won the presidency in the contested election of 1800, which was ultimately decided by the House of Representatives.

As the third President (1801–1809), Jefferson's most consequential act was the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, negotiated with Napoleon Bonaparte's France for approximately $15 million. The purchase added roughly 828,000 square miles to the United States — more than doubling the nation's territory — and set the stage for westward expansion. Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) to explore the new territory, an expedition later commemorated on the 2004 Westward Journey nickel series.

After leaving the presidency, Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in 1819, designing its grounds and curriculum. He is regarded as the university's father. Jefferson was also a prolific inventor and architect; he designed Monticello, his Virginia plantation house, over a period of nearly 40 years. Monticello's distinctive dome and neoclassical facade appear on the nickel's reverse. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 — the same day as John Adams, and exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted. He was 83 years old.

Felix Schlag — The Designer Who Waited 28 Years for Credit

Felix Oscar Schlag was born in Germany in 1891 and trained as a sculptor before emigrating to the United States in 1929. When the US Mint announced an open design competition in 1938 to replace the Buffalo nickel, Schlag entered against 390 other competitors. His submission — a portrait of Jefferson derived from Jean-Antoine Houdon's 1789 marble bust, paired with a distinctive three-quarter-perspective rendering of Monticello — won. The prize was $1,000, equivalent to roughly $22,000 in 2026 dollars. Schlag's obverse portrait entered circulation on the Jefferson nickel later that year.

What Schlag could not have anticipated was how the Mint would treat his reverse. Before production began, Mint engravers replaced his three-quarter-view Monticello with a frontal view designed by Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock. The change was made without consulting Schlag, and his contract included no language requiring that his initials appear on the finished coin. The 1938 Jefferson nickel entered circulation without any attribution to its designer — a common practice at the time but one that Schlag grew increasingly frustrated with as the decades passed.

Beginning in the 1950s, Schlag engaged in a sustained campaign to receive recognition on the coin he had designed. He corresponded with Mint officials and numismatic organizations, arguing that designers of other nations' coins routinely received credit, and that the omission was an injustice. The numismatic community gradually aligned with his position. After years of advocacy, the US Mint added Schlag's initials 'FS' to the obverse — below the truncation of Jefferson's bust — in 1966. Twenty-eight years had elapsed between the coin's first strike and the moment Schlag's authorship appeared on it. He died in 1974.

Schlag's case became a landmark in the history of US coin attribution. It drew attention to the practice of revising competition-winning designs without the original artist's consent, and to the absence of standard crediting conventions. The 2006 redesign of the nickel paid indirect tribute by reviving the detailing of Schlag's original 1938 Monticello for the restored reverse, even as the obverse was updated with a new forward-facing Jefferson portrait by Jamie Franki. Schlag's 'FS' initials continue to appear on the obverse of every Jefferson nickel struck since 1966.

Nickel Design History — From Shield to Jefferson

The five-cent coin has carried five distinct obverse designs since its introduction in 1866. Each era reflects both artistic trends and the practical constraints of coin production.

Nickel Mint Mark History

Philadelphia-struck nickels carried no mint mark from 1866 through early 1942 — a convention applied to most Philadelphia issues of the era. That changed on October 8, 1942, when the Mint began striking war nickels in the silver-bearing 35% Ag alloy. To allow banks to identify the wartime coins for potential post-war recall, a large mint mark was placed above the dome of Monticello on the reverse — far larger than the standard date-adjacent marks. Philadelphia coins in this series carried a large 'P' — the first time a 'P' mint mark appeared on any circulating US coin. The large mint mark format applied equally to Denver ('D') and San Francisco ('S') war nickels struck through December 31, 1945.

When standard cupronickel production resumed in 1946, Philadelphia dropped the mint mark entirely, returning to its pre-war convention of no mark. Denver and San Francisco reverted to small marks adjacent to the date on the obverse. San Francisco struck circulating nickels through 1954 and again from 1968 to 1970, then shifted to proof-only production. In 2017, a small 'P' mark was added to all Philadelphia-struck coins across denominations to mark the 225th anniversary of the Philadelphia Mint's first use of a mint mark on dimes — though the nickel's historical 'P' debut remained the large wartime mark of 1942.

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