Tatanka Returns!

I'm headed to the bank on Monday morning!

--ryan


A Buffalo Returns to the Nickel

By Knight Ridder Newspapers


WASHINGTON — A new nickel, dominated as never before by Thomas Jefferson's face and bringing back the bison on its flip side, starts trickling into circulation Monday, with the U.S. Mint planning to pour 600 million to 650 million of the coins into the change supply over six months.

The new design, featuring an up-close profile of the right side of Jefferson's face, is the third of four nickels that will commemorate the bicentennials of the Jefferson-initiated Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The fourth coin — the "Ocean in View" nickel, depicting the Oregon coast where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first saw the Pacific Ocean in 1805 — will be released this summer.

The newest coin, called the American Bison nickel, brings back the behemoth that dominated the flip side of so-called Indian head nickels from 1913 to 1938.

The Mint released the first two nickels in the series — the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark Keelboat coins — last year. Both have the old, smaller Jefferson bust on their "heads" side.

The nickel will return to a version of the Jefferson and Monticello nickel in 2006.