Wartime nickels.

[thecrazyone]

I know that some have silver in them, but do any of you save ALL nickels from 1941-1945? And if so, why? Is there a huge interest in them? I'm not looking to buy and sell them but have a few.

[TXSTARFIRE]

I save ALL nickels. I keep the war nickels and older than 1960 separate. Newer than 60 go in an ammo can. Nickels are worth more than face value like a copper cent.

[thecrazyone]

Thanks. I read somewhere that they could be used for lithium batteries for EVs.

I just didn't know if war nickels had some other allure. I searched the site before posting and didn't see any dedicated threads.

What's special about those pre 60?

[galenrog]

Copper and nickel, the ONLY metals found in the standard US five cent coin are essential to the manufacturing of many types of batteries and electric drive systems. The silver and manganese found in War Nickels, no so much.

The 35% silver War Nickel is popular because it is 35% silver.

Time for more coffee.

[fasteddy]

I save all nics that I sort.

[TXSTARFIRE]

Melt on a war nickel is $1.69 today.

[thecrazyone]

Melt on a war nickel is $1.69 today.

Gotta love that!

[Silver4face]

Melt on a war nickel is $1.69 today.

And that's exactly why the war nickel is my 2nd favorite coin! I "buy" them for face on a semi regular basis (see nickels thread).

Favorite? Silver halves (for face!)

[Silver4face]

One more comment. If a war nickel contained ZERO silver, they would not be called war nickels. However, I would still keep them anyway because they are still pre 1960. Certainly a few other members of our site would also keep them - even at zero percent silver.

[galenrog]

As an addendum to my previous post, I also set aside 1959 and earlier Jefferson Nickels. I do this to sell or trade with others. Certain date/mint coins are segregated for individual sale, such as 1938 D & S, 1939 D & S, 1950 D, and a few others. Most, however, are rolled by decade as I find them. Typically, when dealing locally, a roll of 1950-1959 garners $6, 1940-1949, with no war nicks, $8, and 1938-1939 gets $40. I sometimes put together sets, when asked.

I find absolutely no local market for 1960 and newer nickels. The plethora of 1964 nicks makes that decade particularly troublesome. I do not even bother with 2009 or other low mintage recent nickels unless I have a request.

My personal collection is somewhat limited. Buffalo Nicks, Benji and Walker Halves, IHPs, and a smattering of other things from time to time.

[Silver4face]

Melt on a war nickel is $1.69 today.

Melt on a war nickel is now $2.29 today/tonight

[thecrazyone]

Geez!

[Recyclersteve]

One issue with war nickels is the 9% manganese content. This makes it more difficult and expensive to melt it down, especially because of the impurities that manganese introduces. I’d much rather have 40% silver Kennedy halves. Another factor is that you only have to count 1/10 as many coins.

[Silver4face]

One issue with war nickels is the 9% manganese content. This makes it more difficult and expensive to melt it down, especially because of the impurities that manganese introduces. I’d much rather have 40% silver Kennedy halves. Another factor is that you only have to count 1/10 as many coins.

" Difficult and expensive to melt it down " - True, but irrelevant to me and others. I like to buy them for face and then sell to another individual or shop. Your issue then becomes THEIR problem and not yours/mine. But yes, I do prefer 40% and 90% which explains why I sold my WAR nickels in March and kept the rest of my silver. I have since acquired 16 war nickels for face (an 80 cent investment)

[Silver4face]

Melt on a war nickel is $1.69 today.

Melt on a war nickel is now $2.29 today/tonight

And here we are a month later and melt value on a war nickel is now $2.66 We are fortunate that the mint struck a lot of them.

[Recyclersteve]

How in the world do you get war nickels for face? Or are you getting them from rolls at a bank?

[Silver4face]

How in the world do you get war nickels for face? Or are you getting them from rolls at a bank?

I open lots of rolls. The most i found in one roll was 38 (that was in 2019). On average, I find one every 50-75 rolls. I'm averaging about 3 war nickels a month. Used to do better than that. So did the competition.

[Recyclersteve]

I meant to add something else. I understand saving war nickels because of the silver, but when it comes to non-silver nickels (75% nickel and 25% copper) I strongly prefer Canadian .999 nickels. If I was in a city near the border like Seattle, Duluth, Detroit or Buffalo, I’d be checking regularly with coin dealers and banks to get as many of these as possible.

[shinnosuke]

I know that some have silver in them, but do any of you save ALL nickels from 1941-1945? And if so, why? Is there a huge interest in them? I'm not looking to buy and sell them but have a few.

As I was reading this thread, I noticed that you included 1941 in your date range. While it’s true that the US did declare war on Japan and Germany, that was at the end of 1941, and the US Mint was unable to turn on a dime (pun intended) so the first silver nickel wasn’t produced until October 1942.

[cwgii]

Note.. just found one that was what I think is played. Definitely not your normal dull color. In fact I missed it on looking at the face. Only when I turned it over, to see that Big P looking at me.