U.S. Nickels.

[TheGolfGuy]

I'm super new here so I have what's probably a beginner question! I think that saving CuNi nickels might be a good idea, but wouldn't that money be better used somewhere else? Thanks guys! -Golf

[blackrabbit]

Yeah, buying silver is probably a better bet. I used to have a bunch of boxes of nickels stored, but have cashed them all in except for one. I think silver and gold will go up before copper and nickel does.

[aloneibreak]

welcome !

i put aside a few boxes of nickels a couple years ago when the "melt" value was more than face

ive since cashed them in

i put some of the money into silver and the rest went to pay bills

if the value comes back up, it will be fairly easy to grab a few boxes then, IMO

[johnbrickner]

I just moved and discovered about a thousand in pennies and a few hundred in nickels. No intentions of cashing them in and possibly obtaining a few more boxes of nickels due to the recent uh . . ., increased awareness of how shatty things actually are. See viewtopic.php?f=17&t=37069 for details. Gold is up, silver is up so I'm sitting on them. The other Hard money (real nickel, real copper) is not going up so considering my contrarian views it's time to increase the other hard money stacks. Hard Money, can't beat it during eye opening times. Better than cash FRNs. Just not as easy to carry around.

[AdamsSamoa]

cashed mine in... like previously said... If I need to stack some they are easily accuired... I do keep the Lewis and Clarks..

[galenrog]

While I do not stack nickels, I do sort. What collectors may want to pay a premium for has been discussed many times. Search my posts and you will find some of my comments on the subject. The hardest thing is learning the many types of errors. If you wish to explore sorting nickels, remember that there is a market for nearly everything.

[blackrabbit]

I still keep any pre-sixties nickels I come across. I also keep the modern Jefferson/Buffalos as I do use them for engraving/carving hobos sometimes, even though I don't think the ones out of circulation will be worth much more than 5 cents anytime soon.

[blackrabbit]

I dumped my last box of nickels. Well I did search it first. I got one silver war nickel, and a bunch of pre-60 ones. It is pretty fun sorting through them when you are bored.

[John Reich]

Cashed the hoard in, but keeping all the Pre-1960's. I recently found a stash of Lewis and Clarks I had put away near the time of issue, so will keep those too. If nickel prices go back up, will rebuild the hoard then.

[Recyclersteve]

I am assuming you are from the U.S. like me. In spite of that, I prefer .999 Canadian nickels which were made up to and including 1981. I'm not near the border, but in spite of that obstacle, haven't had any trouble getting them. Nickel is worth more than copper, yet is only a very small fraction of its all-time high. Storage is a potential problem for all nickel and copper, however, because it is heavy and takes up a lot of room. Nickel is cleaner than copper, but is a known carcinogen and listed as such on the cancer.org site.

Good luck!

[JadeDragon]

Where are you getting Canadian Ni nickels so easy? I can buy all I want at banks but it takes some sorting and a lot of dumping to yield a $100 bag. Until last year I had no coin counter anywhere newr me - I had to roll everything with my CS-10. A bit over a year ago one of my credit unions across town put in the first coin counter. Then they added two more in the next town. Now TD has at least two in the next town, so that makes 5 available at no fee. Of course now pennies are pretty mich gone, and I don't do nickels much anymore.

[Recyclersteve]

Where are you getting Canadian Ni nickels so easy? I can buy all I want at banks but it takes some sorting and a lot of dumping to yield a $100 bag. Until last year I had no coin counter anywhere newr me - I had to roll everything with my CS-10. A bit over a year ago one of my credit unions across town put in the first coin counter. Then they added two more in the next town. Now TD has at least two in the next town, so that makes 5 available at no fee. Of course now pennies are pretty mich gone, and I don't do nickels much anymore.

I had one source I dealt with a few times, but he's been sold out for a while. Some others seems to have perhaps 100 to 200 Canadian nickels every now and then, and often times I have to dig through big tubs of foreign coins to find them. So the time spent digging through thousands of foreign coins is hard to justify unless you are having fun while going through the coins. I've also gotten some nickels when traveling to other states. No real good sources right now.

[ZenOps]

They've pretty much stopped exchanging bills for nickels at ATB (Alberta Treasury Branch), that actually might be a very bad sign that the oil downturn is going to be claiming its first victim soon. A couple years ago, they used to require a signature if you wanted to exchange bills for coin.

[JadeDragon]

They've pretty much stopped exchanging bills for nickels at ATB (Alberta Treasury Branch), that actually might be a very bad sign that the oil downturn is going to be claiming its first victim soon. A couple years ago, they used to require a signature if you wanted to exchange bills for coin.

Why do they refuse to sell you coin?

[InfleXion]

I like US nickels as a general investment because face value protects you on the downside, and it doesn't cost you anything out of pocket because they are currency. They are 75% copper though and are not really an investment in the nickel metal. I've heard they are good for weighing down a safe if you need to make it hard to move.

I like Canadian nickels as an actual nickel investment for my metal diversification plan because they are nearly pure nickel unlike US nickels. While I do like copper and have some copper bars, I generally prefer my metal to be pure instead of a mix that I'd have to melt to get at the base metal.

The order of my investment (per dollar spent) goes something like house, 401K, silver as the clear top 3, and then gold, platinum, palladium, with copper/nickel tied at at the bottom, with actual nickels just being that I keep what I get in circulation but don't attempt to acquire any, same as quarters since they spend easy at the arcade. I'd also like some iridium at some point, and maybe even gallium which is a semi-liquid at room temperature.

I got my Canadian nickels from Nero over at BS, but it's been a few years. He was nice enough to hook me up with one small bag of the older Queen design for collecting.

[dakota1955]

I'm looking at slowly turning them back to the banks. I would start with the 50's then the 40's. I don't see a reason at this point to keep them. Will move into silver and gold instead. What do the rest of you think the outlook for the nickel is?

[johnbrickner]

I also keep all the Canadian nickel and copper I find. Sometimes I'll buy it if almost a give away. I sort all the pre '64s I find and have no intentions of cashing in the sorts. I think the Jefferson is the under the radar collectible coin. I even have a few slabbed I like the Jeffs so much. Can't help it, he's my fav president.

I has a couple hundred stacked and the intention is to sort them when I get back into it. Otherwise, I also intend to buy some more boxes since it's so unpopular at the time.

[tractorman]

I have saved all my pocket change US nickels for several years, probably nearly $50 worth or so. I have also pulled nearly a complete album set of Jeffs, so that has been fun too.

[Investin Cents]

After a few years of hoarding a few hundred dollars of nickels (64 and newer) I've decided to cash them in. I don't see nickel composition changing any time soon (reason I kept them) nor do I think they will be valuable if they change them to steel. I'll use the funds to do other things, like buy other types of metal, buy necessities and maybe keep some in FRN's. (And maybe a few bags of cents to search thru! See below.) Also, the heavy nickels were a pain to move and store!

I'm still keeping my CuZi cents however. #2 Brass is accepted at the local recycler. I don't think they will ever accept CuNi nickels - isn't nickel one of the hardest metals? And the most difficult to separate when melting? Brass is the way to go - many more useful and practical applications.

[galenrog]

When it comes to Nicks, my opinion is to search for errors, which I hold until buyers are found. I also set aside Jeffs from 1938-1959, which I sell to others in bulk. War Nicks, I keep because I like silver, but I do not search nickels just for silver.

I believe that for the near future there is no point in stacking nicks for metal value, since errors, types, and other items that may be of interest to collectors are normally worth far more.

[Klark Cent]

I had about $2500 in nickels but have now started turning them in and throwing the proceeds at my mortgage.

I do keep pre-1960 and 2009s.

Are 2009 nickels keepers? I haven't checked in here much for a couple years, but I remember everyone was keeping them.

Thx

[SilverDragon72]

I keep any pre 60's nickels, war nickels, and any 2009's if I happen to come across any during a search. That's about all.

[Recyclersteve]

On a different thread I mentioned that I just took $800 face of U.S. Nickels to a bank with a free counting machine. Will be taking even more soon. I'd rather take them now before they start charging to use the machines.

I get that some like cupronickel, but I'd rather have something more pure, whether it be U.S. Pennies from 1982 and before or .999 Canadian nickels.

Update: as of February 13th I've taken $1,700 in nickels to the bank. No fee paid to return the coins.

[SilverDragon72]

I am thinking about keeping the Lewis and Clark series of nickels. Do you think they will ever be worth anything more in the future?
I figure having a few tubes of these around couldn't hurt.

[doug444]

Here's a chart I'd like to see -- the price changes for industrial metals, percentage-wise, over the past 5 years; all in one chart, aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel, chromium, iron. I couldn't find such a chart with Google, but I quit after 10 minutes. Now add the price of oil (WTI) in a different color, and see if oil prices are a good predictor of copper (and other) prices.