Congress authorizes new look for nickel

? More change is coming to more change.

The design of the nickel likely will change for the first time since 1938 in honor of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition, under legislation passed in Congress last week.

The proposed change comes as the U.S. Mint continues to roll out new quarters featuring designs chosen by the 50 states. The designs have spurred new interest in coin collecting.

Thomas Jefferson — author of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States and proud alumnus of the College of William and Mary — will remain on the nickel’s obverse, or front side.

But the legislation allows the replacement of the familiar pony-tailed profile of Jefferson with a likeness that recognizes his role in the Louisiana Purchase and the exploration of that territory by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The purchase and expedition occurred during Jefferson’s presidency.

The nickel’s reverse side now features a likeness of Monticello, Jefferson’s home outside Charlottesville, Va. It would be replaced with a design celebrating the Louisiana Purchase and the expedition.

Should President Bush sign the legislation, as expected, the secretary of the Treasury would make any design decisions with the input of an 11-member citizens’ advisory committee.

The new designs would not grace the coins until 2006.

Coin collectors, many bored with current coin designs, will be pleased by a potential new design, said John Ryan, a Kansas City, Mo.-area coin expert.

“Collectors don’t like dead presidents on their coins anymore,” Ryan said. “They’re looking for more Americana and representations of history.

“That’s what the state quarter program is all about.”