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user_79911's Blog

14 Aug 2021

Nickles are worth $0.06???

Coins | user_79911

Did you know that the value of a 1946-2014 Jefferson Nickel is $0.06 (as of Aug 14, 2021). I did not until I was playing around with PCGS’s Coinflation. Coinflation is an app and a website that shows you melt values of all U.S. coins, silver and base. We all know copper pennies are worth more than face, so I was looking to see if any other base coins were worth more than face value melt. So, I looked at the nickel melt value and found that it was $0.06. I guess this was due to the copper in the coin. Nickels are 75% copper after all. Thanks to Coinflation we see that there are 0.0083 pounds of copper and 0.0028 pounds of nickel in $0.05 face value of nickel. So, with today's copper price at $4.2857 a pound and today's nickel price at $8.8322 a pound, Coinflation can calculate that the exact value of one nickel is $0.059770901739957. $0.024339584880455 worth of nickel, $0.035431316859503 of copper. So, A roll of nickels has 40 coins and is valued at $2.39 when copper is at $4.2857 / lb and nickel at $8.8322 / lb (exact value is $2.39084). Unlike copper pennies, the nickels with this metal composition so the mint is wasting money on nickels. Does this mean the mint will get rid of the nickel? Well, more than 1,000,000,000 nickels are made a year so does this mean the mint is wasting $10,000,000 A YEAR on making nickels? If it's as simple as just changing the metal composition of the nickel, why does the mint not do it? Theoretically you could go to the bank, buy a roll of nickels for $2 and make $0.40? Or, even better yet, buy a box of nickels that has 50 rolls in it, and make $19.54? Kind of. It's not that simple, it is against the law to melt any circulating coins. “To protect the coinage of the United States, the United States Mint is adopting a final rule that prohibits the exportation, melting, and treatment of 5-cent and one-cent coins.” - federalregister.gov However, you will be able to melt them once they stop making nickels. You don't have to melt coins for the metal contents to be valuable though. People buy constitutional silver all the time, and that stuff is not 100% pure. So, can you make money off of buying nickels for $0.05 and selling them for $0.06? Well that's up to you. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it.

Comments

Longstrider

Level 6

Not a surprise. If this government agency only lost that amount it would be a miracle. Thanks.

It's Mokie

Level 6

Too much work to make a profit. LOL

Long Beard

Level 5

The mint more than makes up for the short fall by including them in a mint set. The 2020 set sold for $22.50, or 20 coins at $1.13 each. So for every 100,000 sets sold that's $107,000 profit per coin.

Golfer

Level 5

Would need a stack of nickels from earth to the moon, to have any value. Very interesting.

Kepi

Level 6

Interesting... ; )

CoinHunter

Level 5

Nice blog!

Mike

Level 7

Doesn't matter can't melt them anyway. This question of getting rid of this and that. I don't get involved. Thanks for the figures.

I. R. Bama

Level 5

This is like an earlier blog you wrote. Ummm are you a collector or a metal scrapper? Just curious...

user_79911

Level 2

Im a collector, I just share values of things

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