Westward Journey Nickels

This collection includes the complete collection of four Westward Journey Nickels issued in 2004 and 2005, plus the 2006 Return to Monticello Nickel. In 2004 and 2005, the U.S. Mint struck a series of commemorative Nickels for the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. These were the first commemorative Nickels in U.S. history.
Each coin features a one-time-only reverse design that was issued for only a few months. Reverses of 2004 coins show the Peace Medal design and the Keelboat design to symbolize the start of the Expedition; the obverse is the original portrait of Thomas Jefferson that first appeared on the Nickel in 1938. Jefferson was President at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804-1806.
Reverses of 2005 coins show a buffalo and the Pacific Ocean to symbolize the end of the Expedition. 2005 coins also include a new one-year-only portrait of Jefferson on the obverse. The word “Liberty” next to Jefferson’s portrait is in Jefferson’s handwriting.
The 2006 coin features Jefferson’s home at Monticello in Virginia on the reverse, as well as a new portrait of Jefferson. The portrait on the 2006 Nickel is the first forward-facing portrait of a President on a circulating coin.