US Nickels

[brandm24]

I was interested in finding out Felix Schlag's inspiration for his image of Jefferson and found it to be a bust sculpted by Jean-Antoine Houdon. Houdon's work now resides in the Boston Museum of Fine Art. Image attached

Schlag was born in Germany and came to this country in 1929. His first job was with a US auto maker (GM I think) designing new  automobiles. In 1937 he and over 300 other artists submitted designs for a new nickel coin slated to replace the Buffalo 5 cent piece in 1938.
After review by a panel at the mint, including its first female director Nellie Taylor Ross, Schlag's design was chosen. Unfortunately, the final arbiter of the design, the Federal Commission of Fine Arts rejected it and requested that Schlag redesign the reverse. An image is attached of the original.

For his efforts, Schlag was awarded the $1,000 prize for his winning design. A sad note to this otherwise positive story was that his wife Anna passed away shortly after. He had to use the money to cover her funeral expenses.

Bruce

[<k>]

Let's remind ourselves of the issued design.

I think the issued reverse design is preferable, but it's fascinating also to see Schlag's original unissued design.

[gpimper]

Bruce, good point about wives!  I try to split my time evenly between my hobbies and the wife ;-)  Always keep the wife happy!

[brandm24]

I agree, <k>.  The original reverse with the side view of Monticello is awkward at best.

I've always found it interesting to see original art work that was either rejected outright or changed. There are a lot of pattern coins throughout the history of US coinage, as I'm sure from other countries too. A lot of them have made their way into collections and are well documented. As one can imagine, they're usually quite valuable.

Bruce

[brandm24]

Bruce, good point about wives!  I try to split my time evenly between my hobbies and the wife ;-)  Always keep the wife happy!

I think I've found a good way to enjoy my hobby and to keep the wife happy too, Greg. I get up much earlier than she does so do most of my "coining" while she gets her beauty sleep. She also loves to shop...I don't...so while she spends money I work hard to save it.

(Pot luck for dinner tonight. Maybe I'll prepare something from a can. Corned beef hash, anyone?)

Bruce

[gpimper]

Sorry, I would skip the Corned Beef    Sounds like fun, though!

[Prosit]

I want to show one more coin before we leave the subject and I too would skip the Corned Beef...well maybe a small amount of hash and eggs sometime :-)  Chase it down with a Bloody Mary and it would be better :-)

Back to coins.
1939-D Jefferson Nickel.
Mintage 3,514,000
It may be a MS-63 grade or a little better, not totally sure, never was good at splitting hairs.

Please look up this one's catalog (catalogue) :-) price if someone has a new one, the last one I have is at least 7 or 8 years old.
It cost more than the 50-D which has a smaller mintage.

Dale

[gpimper]

Looking at it I would say 39-D even steps MS65 so about $35 to $75 from a collector.  Pretty Nickel!

[brandm24]

My Red Book says $85 in MS-63 and $110 in MS-65. It's from 2014, so the prices are outdated, but shows how scarce you're coin is, Dale. I'm like you, not good on "micro grading" (Too many MS grades for me). A beautiful coin though.

What's with you anti-corned beef hash guys? I had an assist form Mr. Hormel so it was pretty tasty. You could have substituted Spam for the hash.

Bruce

[Prosit]

All the corner beef I've had in my life wasn't bad, it had very little taste.
Spam is too salty and fatty but I liked it just OK when I was younger...occasionally.
Dale

[Figleaf]

What's with you anti-corned beef hash guys? I had an assist form Mr. Hormel so it was pretty tasty. You could have substituted Spam for the hash.

Try this: take unspeakable gunk out of corned beef by gently flattening with fork and removing what refuses to fall apart. Make a goo with canned tomato sauce and olive oil if you are not dieting. Mix with leftover or cold macaroni, some crushed nuts, finely sliced 1) bell peppers 2) mucho fresh or lightly fried (in olive oil for cooking) onions 3) some leftover pickles (but no cheese!) If you are dieting, add some olive oil to taste. No vinegar, unless you don't like wine.

Serve cold from the fridge with a rosé wine (not anything sweet, preferably Tavel) and home baked bread if possible or toast from freshly toasted leftover bread with some olive oil and salt on the side. Eat outside.

Peter

[brandm24]

That's pretty involved for a ham-n-egger like me but I'll run it by my personal chef...my wife.

Bruce

[gpimper]

Bruce, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a MS63 and a MS65.  I'm going off the 2020 US Coin Digest.  Wavy steps in that condition can go as much as $160.

The key is hot sauce!  I'll put it on just about anything...not chocolate cake, though.  Have to draw a line somewhere ;-)

[<k>]

That's pretty involved for a ham-n-egger like me but I'll run it by my personal chef...my wife.

Bruce

[Figleaf]

The key is hot sauce!  I'll put it on just about anything...not chocolate cake, though.  Have to draw a line somewhere

Replace some of the tomato sauce with gochujang from a Korean shop. You won't believe your taste buds.

For the chocolate cake, try Mexican mole. This sauce is used for chocolate chicken, but it will do fine on chocolate cake. Sprinkle cake generously with limoncello before applying sauce.

Peter