Bored with collecting quarters? Nickel

Bored with collecting quarters?
Nickel to Get Commemorative Back Side

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 in early 2004….


My husband will be interested in this story. He is collecting the state quarters and Roosevelt dimes. I’m all for things like this — I like things like commemorative stamps and coins, though I’m not a collector.
Several years ago George Will wrote a column in which he suggested that US currency depict American writers and artists instead of political figures — for example, Mark Twain on the one dollar bill.
I like the Sacagewea dollar coins too. I hope they’re still around if I have the opportunity to give gifts of money to little children. Woudn’t it be the coolest thing to find a shiny gold coin under your pillow or in your shoes or Christmas stocking?
Unfortunately, I suspect dollar coins will be widely accepted in the US only when the dollar bill is withdrawn from circulation — tough love from the US Mint!