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Show TJIM NEW NlCIUfitv. One of the expiring flickers of the pi.enent regime at Washington was the Issuance a short time go of nn onornvous batch of nlckeH with a very; effective" .new design, something quite dlfforonV from the fum'Mar wreath surrounded numeral und star en- ( Ircled head The new ooln was mod-t mod-t led by the Well known sculptor1 and Medalist, J. E. Fraser o'f faew York. ' 1 On one lde is the head of a Chey-I enne Indian" chief, the single feather and braided hnlr Indicating a time of peace. The head Is in profile, showing show-ing the striking outline characteristic of the North American Indian that proflo that, curiously enough, is seen In the portraits of such widely divergent diverg-ent non-Indian types as Dnnte, Savonarola, Savon-arola, George Eliot, Prof. David Swing nnd John McCutchoon. The reverse side of the now nickel ifc a buffalo, also In profile not, however, so successful an achievement as the Indian head. The cutting to deep and rugged, following the latest lat-est vogue of medalists In Italy and I ranee, who in turn are modeling their work on the coins of antiquity. Our artists can never hope to produce pro-duce such beautiful coins ns those of ancient Greece and Home. In those dns they did not hae to consider stacking their money, nor adapting It loi use In slot machines. The first attempt to make Amerlcnn coins artistic was undertaken by President Koosevelt, who took tho designing de-signing of some new mintage away from the regularly omployed, untrained un-trained federal engraver and called in SL Gaudens. Since then various sculptors have been given the task o designing the new coins ns occasion arose. By our present laws the designs of any of our coins cannot bo chnnged oftonor than every twenty-five yours. The new nickel has one Interesting Innovation In that the sculptor's initial visible only undor the strongest magnifying glass can be found under the 3 in 1913. Up to now this honor has boen denied our American artists, but that most effective of all modern coins, the French franc, and other French coins boar the sculptor's name In full, so it was decided to cede nn initial letter to American designers. |