Other Canadians hoarding the Canadian 1982 - 2000 Nickel?

[fonestar]

Just wondering if other Canadians are hoarding the 1982 - 2000 (+2006) CuNickel? I started hoarding them as well, not because I like them as much as the pre 1982 .999 Nickel but because it makes my bank runs more worthwhile if I can keep ~40 - 50% of the coins instead of < 20% per box.

[mtalbot_ca]

No, I do not keep them, except for the 1991, 1996 (near and far) varieties and the 2000P. Do you keep track of your percentage on the CuNi ones? If so, I would be interested to learn about them.

Cheers,

[ZenOps]

Keeping just the 82-89 type of Queens head is pretty much standard for me.

I always throw back the 2006, and will keep the nearer BU 90 to 99 type heads. All US nickels are keepers of course.

[fonestar]

I guess I am lucky in my area because a $100 box will still net $15 - $20 on average of pre 1982 nickels. The 1982 - 2000/2001 are probably another 35% or so. I don't bother with the 2006 CuNi just because the obverse might cause confusion about the purity of my hoard if I ever wanted to sell. If you keep the CuNickel Jefferson, why not the CuNickel Canadians as well?

[JadeDragon]

Initially I kept hundreds of Cdn CuNi but realized there is no market for it. The Americans can just get their nickels which are the same composition, but a touch heaver. I dumped it all.

Canadian Ni is unique because you can't get anything like it in the US and it is pure. I focus on Ni and copper of course.

[ZenOps]

If the US had actually changed its composition for the nickel a few months ago, then there would be no question I would keep any and all cupronickels.

As is, for many its simple enough to just keep 5 cent pure nickels and cupronickels to what you feel comfortable with - and just completely avoid dimes, quarters, halves, dollars and toonies (except maybe the occasional dime hunting if you want to take the lottery on maybe a silver or two per box) If you feel you can't get enough pure nickels and have extra paper dollars, might as well convert it to every cupronickel you can get.

But I'd be wary of a composition change in the US 25% nickel two years from now (next time it comes up for review). Being the last circulating coin of value, they disappear quickly, and one might only get $8 worth of nickels from the US banks before they start putting limits and or charging extra fees.

I'm also a little bit wary of gasoline prices. If the price of gasoline gets high, there is an ever increasing chance that more and more banks will start charging extra withdrawl fees per roll or per box, which will always work in the banks favor.

There is still time, steady is the key.

[fonestar]

I don't understand how there would be no market for Canadian CuNickel Nickels? As an example, I am a marine engineer (that uses a lot of CuNi alloy) and I want to build a tanker ship. Do I care whether the source of the alloy had little pictures of Thomas Jefferson or little beavers instead?

[coppertone]

I don't keep them as my money was better invested in pure nickel coins or copper pennies. Now that I can't get pennies who knows maybe in the near ftrure I will.

[SilverDragon72]

I'm always looking for .999 Ni anytime I can get my hands on some. Even in little quantities!

[JadeDragon]

I don't understand how there would be no market for Canadian CuNickel Nickels? As an example, I am a marine engineer (that uses a lot of CuNi alloy) and I want to build a tanker ship. Do I care whether the source of the alloy had little pictures of Thomas Jefferson or little beavers instead?

As an end user, you would not. In fact, if you are an American and you can't melt down US CuNi you might like to buy Canadian CuNi. However, on a small scale it is different. Which member here will buy Canadian CuNi from us at even face value when they can go to their local bank and get US nickels which are heaver, no shipping cost, do not require sorting, and can be easily cashed in for face at any time?

[fonestar]

I don't understand how there would be no market for Canadian CuNickel Nickels? As an example, I am a marine engineer (that uses a lot of CuNi alloy) and I want to build a tanker ship. Do I care whether the source of the alloy had little pictures of Thomas Jefferson or little beavers instead?

As an end user, you would not. In fact, if you are an American and you can't melt down US CuNi you might like to buy Canadian CuNi. However, on a small scale it is different. Which member here will buy Canadian CuNi from us at even face value when they can go to their local bank and get US nickels which are heaver, no shipping cost, do not require sorting, and can be easily cashed in for face at any time?

If someone has already done the sorting it should make no difference whether American or Canadian CuNi. You have to remember, an industrial user is going to look at this differently than your local coin shop will. All the industrial user will care about is weight, purity and shipping costs.

[ZenOps]

There would be little market for Canadian cupronickels in the US for as long as US nickels continue to be available.

Available is the key thing. If one out of every 250 people decided they wanted $2,000 worth of nickels ($2,000 being an average minimum paper instrument investment in stocks nowadays) - then they would no longer be available.

$2,000 per capita is far, far less than the silver denomination coinage per capita back in 1964 (and there were a lot less fiat investment dollars back then too) and could potentially be hit much quicker than the two or three years it took for silver coinage to disappear into strong hands. I can imagine if there was a run on nickels, it could potentially be hit in months. That the US has instituted capital flight controls (no longer allowed to export more than $100 worth of pennies and nickels) may be a telling sign that it could be right on the horizon.

If you have already spent the effort and sorted the pure nickels, yes - might as well just keep the cupronicks as well. Seriously, about $10 worth of pure nickels per box, means a heck of a lot of boxes to even amass a $2,000 investment, adding another $30 worth of cupronicks can definitely speed things up. The greater risk is a strong hand coming in and doing a nickel run and scooping it all up in a matter of months. And as always, you can dump the cupronicks back into circulation at any time. People used to dump their 40% US silvers back into circulation even just a decade ago.

[fonestar]

Available is right. But when it comes time to sell these coins (who knows for what or when there will be a stable currency?) the Jeffersons and the Beavers are likely to be headed east to Shanghai or New Delhi where people do not know what a beaver is or who Thomas Jefferson was. So what you're talking about really is the difference between shipping from Vancouver or maybe Los Angeles. The buyer will base his purchase on price, shipping cost, weight and purity. They won't care where they came from or what little pictures they have on them.

[frugalcanuck]

When i started sorting i kept them but i don't any more. i have 4 boxes of them saved and can turn them in if need be but think there will be a market one day because of the ARP.

[ZenOps]

Since both pennies and nickels will be recovered, I'd assume both would start to become more valuable to collectors.

Pennies more so now because one cannot simply withdraw them anymore. Cupronickels are now the only way for Canadians to get small amounts of copper in coin form without having to pay massive amounts for shipping, so that makes it more appealing to keep them as well.

[henrysmedford]

Though I'm am not Canadian I save them as we get them for free most of the time are buy them at a .8 of face. We tube them all so we can help out on putting date sets together .

[MetalJunkie]

as of right now i keep them. I figure ARP will make them harder to get in the future.

[Know Common Cents]

I'm a purist from a long time ago. I have ample rolls of pure Ni Canadian nix. I never planned to make a huge profit on them, but just plain like 'em. Those of bronze or steel composition from WWII and the Korean War are repatriated each time I visit my friendly neighbors to the North.

[TwoPenniesEarned]

I set my Ryedale to remove the steel Nickels and am left with the Ni and CuNi. I keep the CuNi because it is a hard asset. I admit it has been hard to resist dumping them, but in the long run I will sell them for at least 0.10 each after the great hyperinflation.

If fiat stabilizes and retains it's purchasing power, on the other hand, then I'll spend them and have saved money that is worth what it was when I saved it. No losing.

[SilverDragon72]

I am not actively saving post '82 canadian nickels. I do have a few in my collection that I've found among my nickel roll searches. I suppose I'll keep them anyways....

[scyther]

I was saving mine, just because I save everything foreign (including zinc and steel Canadian pennies, may as well since they're all being destroyed now), but I threw the few I had back. They actually have less metal value than US nickels, and there's just no point.

[ZenOps]

From a silver standpoint, Pre-1967 Canadian dimes are only 80% compared to a 90% US silver dimes. Does that make them less worthy of hoarding? When Canadian coinage was 92.5% and US coinage only 90% was it really that much of a difference?

I can imagine someday when a US nickel is worth 11 cents, and a Canadian cupronickel is worth 10 cents it will all seem pretty silly. Hindsight is 20/20.

The ratio will probably be: 44 Canadian cupronicks or 40 US cupronickels as a CNTU (CuproNickel Trade Unit)

[Silver4face]

BUMP!!! I stumbled upon this old thread and must bring it back for several reasons. First of all, I am not a Canadian, but I have dealt with large quantities of CAD nickels in the past, and I still pull a few here and there out of U.S. rolls. But more importantly, the people that responded to this thread nine years ago might have different responses and/or opinions today. For example, should you hoard them because. 999 is now mostly gone? Also, I thought that newer members might wish to weigh in now that they see this thread.

[JadeDragon]

I still don’t collect the CuNi nickels out of circulation. I woukd still get too many of them too quickly and I still see no market for the coins as long as you can get heavier US nickels by the box/pallet etc without sorting them out.

[Recyclersteve]

Thanks for reopening this old thread!

I live in the U.S., but have been to Canada a number of times and once even hauled something like $800 in Canadian quarters to a bank in Vancouver.

Regarding nickels, I really like the .999 Canadian coins, but none of the other compositions. I used to keep U.S. nickels in ammunition boxes, but cashed those in years ago. I just like several things better than Cupronickel.