Owner Comments:
The obverse of the 2006 nickel depicts a portrait of Thomas Jefferson completed during 1800.
The United States Mint's Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Jamie Franki of Concord, North Carolina, designed the obverse, using as his inspiration the first Rembrandt Peale life study of Jefferson, done in 1800.
Depicting Jefferson as Vice President at 57 years of age, just before becoming President, this Peale portrait had a significant iconographic role during Jefferson's lifetime; it was frequently used as a reference to create most of the images by which Jefferson's contemporaries came to know him.
The cursive "Liberty" inscription, which debuted on the 2005 nickels, is again presented in Jefferson's own handwriting.
The obverse was engraved by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Donna Weaver.