The obverse design for the "Return to Monticello" nickel depicts a portrait of Thomas Jefferson completed during the year in which he was elected as our Nation's third President. The reverse features the classic, familiar rendition of Monticello, President Thomas Jefferson's Virginia home, originally executed by artist Felix Schlag and first chosen to adorn the coin's reverse in 1938.

The obverse design was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Jamie Franki of Concord, North Carolina, using as his inspiration the first Rembrandt Peale life study of Jefferson, done in 1800. The reverse design is crisper and more detailed than Americans have seen it in recent years, having been carefully restored by the United States Mint, using Schlag's original work.

The obverse design for the 2005 nickels will bear, for the first time in 67 years, a new likeness of America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson. The "Liberty" inscription on the coin is based upon Jefferson’s own handwriting. The design is based on the marble bust of Jefferson by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, completed in 1789. The design was made age-appropriate to his presidency by utilizing later paintings by Gilbert Stuart and Rembrandt Peale. The design was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist, Joe Fitzgerald, of Silver Spring, Maryland. United States Mint sculptor-engraver Don Everhart sculpted the design.