I was surprised the other day to reach in my pocket and discover a coin I had never seen before. I turned it over and saw that while it had Lewis & Clark on one side, it was a normal nickel on the other. I mentioned it to Manny and he said, “Oh yeah… you haven’t seen those before?” or something like that.

Well, I was looking through my coins today and discovered yet another version of the 2004 nickel – this one had Lewis & Clark on the back. Intrigued, I decided to look them up and see how many versions there were… I discovered that the two I had found were the only designs released in 2004.

I also found out while surfing that there will be two new nickels coming out in 2005. The cool thing about them is that there will be a total remake of the front as well. I think the new nickel design rocks… the portrait of Jefferson on the obverse is much better looking and it really updates the look of the coins… I like the handwritten “Liberty” as well…


According to the US Mint, the coin will return to its original design in 2006.