Welcome to the Tarnished Truth. YOUR newsletter. First I want to apologize because it has been so long since the newsletter has been updated. A combination of the after effects of September eleventh, a noticable amount of laziness on my part, and a general lack of new and interesting material to put forth. I will try to do better, but do not believe the hobby is providing enough new and interesting subject matter to make a weekly rendition possible. We do have in this issue however a neat little article by our own Dewey Maggard. Thanks Dewey.

This coin is probably going to flabbergast the experts in that for all its commoness it is very very hard to put together as a really nice set. Also it is getting to be a rather large set, with no change in design on the immediate horizon. With the State Quarter mania going on now it is easy to overlook the common nickel and believe it less a challenge or investment vehicle. Not so. Do not wait until there is a change in design to aquire this set or you will find the price untenable. The replacement for the great art piece of American coinage, the Buffalo Nickel, the Jefferson is of the same copper nickel composition and is the same size. Designed by Felix Schlag who won a $1000 award for the winner in a competition with 390 artists who submitted designs. The coin has been minted from 1938 though present day, and except for a four year change to a war time composition of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese it has retained its original design and composition.

Proofs were made for the coin from 1938 though 1942, and then again from 1950 though 1964 and then from 1968 though present day. There were also special mint varieties in the years 1965 though 1967 which many consider as part of a proof run. Also these were special matte proof-like pieces made in 1994 for the Jefferson coin and currency sets, and then again in 1997 for the Botanic gardens coin sets.