Nickel's back side gets Lewis-Clark makeover

WASHINGTON — The nickel is getting a makeover.

The back side of the new 5-cent coin will commemorate the bicentennial of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and the 1804-06 Lewis and Clark expedition. The U.S. Mint hopes to issue the nickels late this year or early next.

In 2006, nickels will return to a depiction of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia home — something lawmakers from Virginia had pushed for.

Jefferson, who made the Louisiana Purchase and was the force behind the Lewis and Clark expedition, will remain on the "heads" side of the new coins.

The last change to the nickel's design was in 1938. The current Jefferson and Monticello images replaced what was known as the "buffalo nickel," which had been in circulation since 1913. The 5-cent coin was introduced in the mid-19th century.

Latest figures show nickel circulation at 18.9 billion. The mint said it would increase production if the public began collecting the new nickels in large numbers.