The Jefferson nickel was first minted in 1938 with the reverse displaying Thomas Jefferson’s Virginian estate, Monticello. Created by Felix Schlag, this design remained on the United States nickel for 66 years with few changes, before it was redesigned in 2004.

With the entry of the United States into World War II, nickel became a critical war material, and the Mint sought to reduce its use of the metal. On March 27, 1942, the nickel's Congress authorized a nickel made with a portion of copper and silver and gave the Mint the authority to vary the proportions, or add other metals. The Mint's greatest concern was in finding an alloy which would use no nickel, but still satisfy counterfeit detectors in vending machines. An alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese proved suitable, and this alloy began to be coined into nickels from October 1942 and minted through December of 1945.  Nickels between 1942 and 1945 are commonly known as "War Nickels".

The original design does not include the designer, Felix Schlag's initials.  These were later added in 1966.