by ZenOps » Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:14 am
Nickel was $7.70 a pound back in 1970. Its exceeded that lately, but the peak was $23/pound five years ago on the LME default.
Most of the LME stock of nickel comes from one mine in Canada (where we were the worlds largest producer for many decades) the other main mine in Norilsk Russia, combined used to supply the world with much more than half of the worlds supply.
We no longer have enough pure nickel to use for a 7 gram $1 and $2 coin in Canada. Take it as a hint people, unlike gold or silver which have relatively stable year over year in ground reserves, nickel production is falling off the cliff. The *only* reason the US can afford 1.25 grams of nickel for a US nickel is because we are basically giving it away (much like the $1Billion worth of free softwood lumber we gave the US a few years ago) That and the US can still produce a 5 cent nickel for 11.12 cents (a production loss is not a big deal, when you can simply print more money to cover it)
Nickel is about 11x rarer than copper, if you use copper as a monetary base - which the US does not (You guys have proven you absolutely hate the 8 billion 8.1 gram Susan B Anthony, Sacagawea, and Presidential dollars)
Realistically though. An 8-gram pure nickel coin in 2011 should probably be a denomination of $5 US. The 2€ coin contains about 3 grams of nickel.
"I like nickels" Kyle Bass.
Beaver collector