High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Jefferson nickel has been the five-cent coin struck by the United States Mint since 1938, when it replaced the Buffalo nickel. Since 2006, the copper-nickel coin`s obverse has featured a forward-facing portrayal of early US President Thomas Jefferson by Jamie Franki. The coin`s reverse is the original by Felix Schlag; in 2004 and 2005, the piece bore commemorative designs.