Each two-roll set is comprised of 80 nickels: one roll of 40 coins with the Philadelphia mint mark and one roll of 40 coins with the Denver mint mark. Each coin roll is packaged in a specially designed United States Mint paper coin wrap. Printing on the coin wrap includes “Westward Journey Nickel Series™” program label, a “P” or “D” representing the roll’s mint of origin, the year “2005,” “$2” representing its dollar value, and the reverse image of the coin featuring the American bison design. These rolls feature nickels used in regular commercial transaction and are struck on our main production floors at the United States Mint at Philadelphia and Denver.

The obverse design for the 2005 nickels will bear, for the first time in 67 years, a new likeness of America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson. The “Liberty” inscription on the coin is based upon Jefferson’s own handwriting. The design is based on the marble bust of Jefferson by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, completed in 1789. The design was made age-appropriate to his presidency by utilizing later paintings by Gilbert Stuart and Rembrandt Peale. The design was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist, Joe Fitzgerald, of Silver Spring, Maryland. United States Mint sculptor-engraver Don Everhart sculpted the design.

The first of two new reverses on the 2005-dated nickel will feature the American bison, recognizing the American Indians and wildlife encountered by the Lewis and Clark expedition. Expedition journals described the buffalo and it was an animal of great significance to many American Indian cultures. The design was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist, Jamie Franki, of Concord, North Carolina. United States Mint sculptor-engraver Norman E. Nemeth sculpted the design.