Uncirculated Proofs

Apparently, this is very difficult.

The people who design coins (who, if they're not called "numismatographers," should be) have hailed this Jefferson nickel as a masterpiece of the numismatographer's art. The reason most people on coins are in profile is that's because it's the easiest way to show someone--there's not nearly as much three-dimensionality as a head-on or three-quarters view.

That's got to be a metaphor for the biographer's art, right? It's easiest to present a flat version of your subject, tougher to make her/him more three-dimensional, to accept the difficulties in reconciling a lived life with ink on the page. It's easier to think of Jefferson as the architect not only of Monticello, but also of America, writing the Declaration of Independence. It's nice to think of him as the guy who started the University of Virginia as a public institution, a reaction to the church-influenced education he experienced at William and Mary. It's pleasant to imagine Jefferson waving goodbye to Lewis and Clark from the steps of his house, telling them to keep an eye out for mastodons while exploring the Louisiana Purchase.

That's the Jefferson I grew up with--he was my favorite president as a kid (a writer!), and one of my earliest memories is reading the text of the Declaration on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in DC. But we've learned more about Jefferson (well, "learned" probably isn't right--a lot of these things were discussed when he was vice-president and later president) as the years have gone on, making the man more complex, more rounded. The sheen is of that nickel now, but it still spends, and while there are numismatists who value highest the uncirculated proof, the pristine, shiny coin, I'm more interested in the story it tells in its movements.