WASHINGTON — Coming soon to a cash register near you — a smiling Thomas Jefferson looking straight at you from a new nickel that will end nearly a century of tradition for U.S. coins.
The Mint plans to begin shipping 80 million of the new 5-cent coins on Thursday to the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. They will be the first of an estimated 1 billion new nickels that will be put into circulation over the next year.
Since 1909, when Abraham Lincoln became the first president depicted on a circulating coin, all the presidential images have been in profile.
But in a break with that tradition, the new nickel has an image of Jefferson taken from a 1800 Rembrandt Peale portrait in which the nation's third president is looking forward, with just the hint of a smile. The word "Liberty" in Jefferson's handwriting is also shown, as is the phrase "In God We Trust."
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On the opposite side, the nickel features Monticello, Jefferson's Virginia home. Jefferson and Monticello had been on the nickel without change for 66 years until 2004.
In that year, the Mint began the "Westward Journey Nickel Series" to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase and the exploration of the new territory by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
For two years, Monticello was replaced with images commemorating their journey, including a keel boat, a buffalo and a view of the Pacific.
The redesigned nickel is expected to be around for quite a while, with no current plans for further changes.
Get nickels
● Mint officials predicted that the new Jefferson nickels will start showing up in change drawers over the next four to six weeks.
People who can't wait that long can order bags and rolls of the 2006 nickels at the Mint's Web site U.S. Mint: http://www.usmint.gov or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT.
