Plans to remove the representation of Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, from the reverse of the nickel coin are closer to being blocked. The United States House of Representatives on Monday passed by voice vote the bill sponsored by the Virginia delegation led by Rep. Eric Cantor that would preserve the current design of the coin. The bill now moves to the United States Senate, where the legislation is sponsored by Virginia Sen. George Allen.



The plan put forward last month by the United States Mint had been to change the reverse design to one commemorating the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase and the Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.



Under Rep. Cantor's legislation, the Congress would recognize the alternative reverse design --- depicting an American Indian and an eagle facing westward --- for the years 2003, 2004, and 2005. The original design of Felix Schlag, unchanged since the Jefferson nickel replaced the buffalo nickel in 1938, would resume as permanent in 2006.



The buffalo nickel, designed by James Earle Fraser, was minted from 1913-1938. The design was designated for use on a silver dollar coin in 2000, and the coin was released last year to mark the Smithsonian Institution's new National Museum of the American Indian.