WASHINGTON – After nearly 100 years of depicting presidents in somber profiles on the nation’s coins, the Mint is trying something different: The new nickel features Thomas Jefferson, facing forward, with the hint of a smile.

“It isn’t a silly smile or a smirk, but a sense of optimism that I was trying to convey with the expression,” says Jamie Franki, an associate professor of art at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. His drawing was chosen out of 147 entries.

In unveiling the design Tuesday, Mint officials said they believed the new image of Jefferson was an appropriate way to commemorate his support for expanding the country through the Louisiana Purchase and sending Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the territory in 1804-05.

“The image of a forward-looking Jefferson is a fitting tribute to that vision,” said David Lebryk, the acting director of the Mint.

For the past two years, the Mint has changed the design of the nickel every six months to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition, both of which occurred during Jefferson’s administration.

The new five-cent coin, which will go into circulation early next year, is the last scheduled change in the nickel’s appearance. It will feature Jefferson’s Monticello home on the reverse side of the coin but in an updated image from the Monticello that first began appearing on the nickel in 1938.

The image of Jefferson will be accompanied by the word “Liberty” in Jefferson’s own handwriting, a detail that was introduced last year in the Westward Journey series of nickels.

Since Abraham Lincoln became the first president to be depicted on a circulating coin, in 1909, presidents have always been shown in profile, in part because profile designs remain recognizable even after extensive wear on the coin. The Mint, however, believes it has produced an image of Jefferson for the new nickel that can stand up to heavy use.

For next year, between 1.4 billion and 1.8 billion of the new nickels are expected to go into circulation. The coins will be called the Jefferson 1800 because Franki’s image of Jefferson is based on a Rembrandt Peale portrait of Jefferson done in 1800, the year Jefferson was first elected president.

Jefferson will be the first but perhaps not the last president to go from profile to frontal view on U.S. coins. Congress is considering whether to direct the Mint to redesign the penny for 2009, the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.

(via AP)

Tom informed me of an article about an armored truck carrying over 3 million newly minted Kansas state quarters that caught on fire. Here’s the news article.

Everyone has heard of pennies from heaven, but what about quarters in hell?

The trailer of an American Armored transfer truck carrying $800,000 in quarters caught fire Tuesday morning while traveling south on I-59, near the Sulpher Springs interchange. The fire burned through the trailer and its interior aluminum containers, causing 16 tons of quarters to spill onto the interstate.

These were not just any quarters. They were freshly minted, commemorative Kansas state quarters, part of the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters program. The Kansas quarters were released Aug. 29.

The American Armored shipment was en route from the Philadelphia mint to Birmingham.

The transfer truck was being driven south on I-59 by Jim Starr, 60, while his son, Jim Starr Jr., 41, armed with a sidearm, rode along. Both work for American Armored, which operates out of Colorado.

According to the younger Starr, an axle or brake on the truck’s trailer started running hot as it passed across the Georgia state line and into Alabama, around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday. He said that resulted in an apparent grease fire, which in turn resulted in a rear tire catching fire, which in turn resulted in the fire that destroyed the trailer.

The trailer burned in the emergency lane of I-59 near the 237 mile marker, about two miles south of the Georgia line. No injuries were reported.

Starr said he attempted to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher routinely carried in the cab of the truck, but the fire was already burning too hot. He said he and his father separated the trailer from the cab, moved the cab a safe distance away and called 911.

He said firefighters from nearby Hammondville Fire Department were on the scene within 15 minutes and fought the fire for about 30 minutes before getting it under control.

Read the full article.

Todd Priebe is an officer for the Sheboygan Police Department and wrote a column about how to detect counterfeit coins and currency.

Here’s the first part of the article. Follow the link at the bottom for the rest of it.

Genuine coins are stamped out by special machinery. Most counterfeit coins are made by pouring liquid metal into molds or dies. This procedure often leaves die marks such as cracks or dimples of metal on the counterfeit coin.

Today, counterfeit coins are made primarily to simulate rare coins that are of value to collectors. Sometimes this is done by altering genuine coins to increase their numismatic value.

The most common changes are the removal, addition or alteration of the coins’ date or mint marks. If you suspect you have a counterfeit or altered coin, compare it with a genuine one of the same value. If it is above 5 cents in value, it should have corrugated outer edges, or “reeding.” Reeding on genuine coins is even and distinct. The counterfeit coins’ reeding may be uneven, crooked or missing.

Due to increases in color copy technology, two new features had been added to U.S. currency. These new features started appearing in series 1990 $50 and $100 Federal Reserve notes. Since then, additional denominations had been gradually phased in. Existing currency and the new series will co-circulate until existing currency is withdrawn at the Federal Reserve banks and branches. Withdrawal will be based on normal wear.

Read the entire article

The Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve and U.S. Secret Service are unveiling a new design and updated security features for the $10 note that will enter circulation in early 2006. The $10 note is the third denomination in the new currency series which incorporates enhanced security features, subtle background colors and symbols of freedom into the designs.

The unveiling event will take place at 10 a.m. on Ellis Island in New York Harbor—raising speculation that the Statue of Liberty might be one of the note’s new design elements.

While it is not yet known what new design elements or colors will be incorporated into the new $10, the note will carry a series date of 2004A because it has facsimile signatures of Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral.

Snow and Cabral will participate in the ceremony, as will Bureau of Engraving and Printing Director Thomas A. Ferguson, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Roger W. Ferguson Jr. and Secret Service Director W. Ralph Basham.

Special ferries have been arranged dedicated to this event.

The new $10 notes will be safer, smarter and more secure: safer because they’re harder to fake and easier to check; smarter to stay ahead of tech-savvy counterfeiters; more secure to protect the integrity of U.S. currency. The new currency, with improved security features, makes counterfeiting more difficult and makes it easier for financial institutions, professional cash-handlers and the general public to check their U.S. currency.

Because counterfeiters are turning increasingly to digital methods and as advances in technology make digital counterfeiting easier and cheaper, the government is staying ahead of counterfeiters by updating the currency every 7-10 years.

The $100 note will be the next denomination to be redesigned after the $10 note. At this time, the government has no plans to redesign the $5 note. The $2 and $1 notes will not be redesigned.

(via moneyfactory.com)

I just got an e-mail from Brian of KatrinaQuarters.com asking me to spread the word about their effort. It seems like a worthwhile cause.

Here’s a brief synopsis of their purpose.

In 2002, as part of the 50 States Quarter program introduced by the U.S. Mint in 1999, approximately 1,343,804,000 (764,204,000 Louisiana and 579,600,000 Mississippi) quarters representing the states of Louisiana and Mississippi were placed into circulation. Most of us probably don’t even realize we have them in our pockets, cars, change buckets etc., but now is the time to look for them. From these quarters alone, there exists over $335,000,000 in potential aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Our hope is to collect over $1,000,000 in Louisiana and Mississippi quarters in time for Thanksgiving Day 2005. We are asking you to contribute to this ambitious effort and help us to exceed our expectations and, in so doing, bring a brighter day to the vicitims of this very dark event.