Thomas Jefferson

English

The obverse of the two-dollar bill
The obverse of the Jefferson nickel (sense 2; a design used until 2005)
The obverse of the Jefferson dollar coin (sense 3)

Etymology

Metonym from the portrait of Thomas Jefferson featured on them.

Noun

Thomas Jefferson (plural Thomas Jeffersons) (metonymic, US, numismatic slang, rare)

  1. A United States two-dollar bill featuring Thomas Jefferson.
    Synonyms: Jefferson, Tom
    • 1987 May, James N. Frey, chapter 9, in USSA: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 134:
      I was able to get it out of the clerk that this Franks guy—he’s supposed to be a legit writer who’s on the road a lot—but after I greased her palm with a few Thomas Jeffersons she tells me he don’t ever pick up his mail there.
    • 2000 January 31, Doug Wickstrom, “Tipping the maids”, in rec.arts.sf.fandom‎[1] (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 June 2025:
      Well, I just tipped mine two dollars a day for three days, in nice, crisp Thomas Jeffersons.
    • 2003 October 19, Kenneth Sloan, “Change for a five”, in rec.games.chess.politics‎[2] (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 June 2025:
      I'll wager a Thomas Jefferson that there will be a 5euro coin on the Continent before there is an 18cent coin in fly-over-country.
    • 2022 April 18, Douglas J. McGregor, “Part Five: 1941”, in Roadtrip 41, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, section 2:
      “I’ve never said this before,” I started off with a chuckle, handing him the bill, “but here’s a Thomas Jefferson for your troubles.” […] “I gave him a Thomas Jefferson,” I reminded her with a laugh, only to admit, “Until today, I had no idea Thomas Jefferson was on the two.” I chuckled again and complained, “I wish we still had the two dollar bill in our time—they’re so handy.”
  2. A United States nickel (five-cent coin) featuring Thomas Jefferson.
    • 1993 June, Hortense Calisher, “Blind Eye, Wrong Foot”, in Laura Furman, editor, American Short Fiction, volume 3, number 10, Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43:
      After I first saw the old man I kept watching for those buffalo nickels, but they’re all Thomas Jeffersons now.
    • 2012, Doug Brendel, “A Primer for Ye Olde Vending Tradition”, in Only in Ipswich 2013, →ISBN, page 38:
      For modern-era citizens now dependent on debit cards and no longer familiar with coin values: Cheez-Its requires one Franklin Roosevelt and two George Washingtons. (Hold onto your Thomas Jeffersons for drinks, later.)
    • 2021, Chloe Liese, “Rooney”, in With You Forever (Bergman Brothers; 4), London: Penguin Books, published 2023, →ISBN:
      If I had a nickel for every time I made the mistake of telling someone I was sick—and they said disbelievingly, “But you look fine!”—I’d be rolling in shiny little Thomas Jeffersons.
  3. A United States dollar coin featuring Thomas Jefferson.
    • 2007 September 9, Jim Seymour, “Coin scam in the open?”, in rec.collecting.coins‎[3] (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 June 2025:
      They stopped minting the Washington dollar coins as soon as they starting minting John Adams coins. Similarly, the John Adams are no longer in productions - and Thomas Jeffersons will give way to James Madison very soon.
    • 2008 August 12, Paul Dietenberger, “OT: 2$ Bill”, in rec.antiques.radio+phono‎[4] (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 June 2025:
      Now the mint is really pushing the gold Presidential dollar coins that started up last year hoping that people will collect the full set of presidents (I do) - I always get them in change from the office soda machine and at the post office stamp machine. In fact I have three Thomas Jeffersons jingling in my pocket as I write this.
    • 2014, Gerald Karey, “Do You Have Change for a Sacagawea?”, in Unhinged: Reflections, Opinions, Humor, Reminiscences, an Occasional Rant, Reportage—a Random Chronicle of Our Times, Amherst, Mass.: Small Batch Books, →ISBN, section 15 (A Baker’s Dozen), page 373:
      Included in my nascent collection of eight presidential dollar coins are two Thomas Jeffersons and one Andrew Jackson, neither of whom should need an introduction.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.