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The new nickels have pictures commemorating the Lewis and Clark expedition. Some say they're too similar to the state quarters. |
Twenty-five cents or just 5 cents? Lately some people have been finding it harder to tell the difference.
"You know, I think I might have been one of them," said Jane Morgan, a slow smile beginning to spread across her face. "I put what I thought were three quarters in the vending machine, but it wouldn't give me my water. I bet one of them was one of those nickels."
The nickel that Morgan, a clerk at Frank's in Fredericksburg's Park & Shop Center, was talking about was one of the new Westward Journey nickels, imprinted with designs commemorating the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
"The first time I saw one, I thought they were counterfeit," said Arleen Grammer, a server at Goolrick's lunch counter downtown.
"People think they're quarters or they're foreign money. They're just not right," said Cathi Allison, owner of Dog Dayz on Caroline Street.
The first in a planned series of four nickels appeared last March. It is a replica of the Peace Medal that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark presented to American Indian chiefs as a token of good will as they made their way from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back. It shows two hands clasped, one in an Army uniform and the other in American Indian dress, under a crossed peace pipe and hatchet.
The second in the series, released in August, shows a keelboat like the ones the expedition used as it traveled up the Missouri River.
Two more new nickel designs are planned for 2005--one with an American bison to be released in the spring and another with a view of the Pacific coast in late summer. Both of those nickels will have a new likeness of Thomas Jefferson, the driving force behind the expedition, on their faces.
The new nickels are the result of legislation introduced by Virginia's Rep. Eric Cantor (R-7th District).
"The commemorative series of nickels are a way of celebrating the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition," Cantor said in a telephone interview, "and they're also an opportunity to bring out the connection Lewis and Clark had to our commonwealth, to Mr. Jefferson and Monticello. The expedition began in the commonwealth."
Lewis and Clark were, of course, Virginia natives as was Jefferson, and plans for the expedition took shape in Jefferson's White House.
"It's a way of preserving Virginia's place in history as far as westward expansion is concerned," Cantor said.
The problem, insofar as one exists, is that Americans have become accustomed to associating new designs with quarters since the 50 State Quarters Program began in 1999. Twenty-nine of the new quarters have been released so far, with 21 more to come by the end of 2008. And the quarters have received a lot more publicity than the nickels have.
Rita Mauck at Goolrick's Pharmacy said she was taken totally by surprise when she saw her first Westward Journey nickel.
"I called the bank ," she said, to verify the nickel's authenticity.
Michael White, a spokesman for the U.S. Mint, said that there was a news conference in the spring to announce the new nickels. It just didn't make quite the splash that the quarters program had.
He said there shouldn't be any difficulty in differentiating between the quarters and nickels.
"They're totally different sizes," he said. "It's not like the Susan B. Anthony dollar and quarters," referring to an earlier coinage problem.
And many local merchants agreed with him--people aren't having a problem figuring out which coins are which.
Still, "It is confusing," said Elizabeth Dameron, owner of Dameron's Hallmark in the Park & Shop center. "You always take a second look, whether you're giving back change or [the customer is] giving you money."
The problem may be resolved in 2006 when the nickel reverts to having Monticello on the back, the way it had been from 1938 to 2004. Except, Cantor said, the new nickel won't be quite the same as the old. Monticello is supposed to get a facelift.
To reach LUCIA ANDERSON: 540/374-5405 landerson@freelancestar.com
