Owner Comments:
2000 5C S JEFFERSON NICKEL - PF 70 - MONTICELLO (PORTRAIT LABEL)
In 1938, the United States Treasury elected to stop minting the Buffalo nickel. The Buffalo nickel (also known as the Indian Head nickel) had just completed its mandatory twenty-five year circulation, and since the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was an admirer of Jefferson, the U.S. Mint announced a contest to design a coin in honor of the third President. 390 contestants did so.
The winning artist, Felix Schlag, was a German immigrant who first came to the United States in 1929. He spent four weeks on his version of the coin. In the letter that notified him of his success, Schlag learned that the "President saw your designs and was quite complimentary about them." The obverse, or face, Schlag based on a Gilbert Stuart portrait he had encountered in an art book. On the reverse, he depicted Monticello. His version of the mansion underwent drastic revision before minting, but once released in 1938, Schlag's design remained virtually unchanged for 66 years.