Metal value tipping point?

[PennyPincher]

I'm curious as to what others here think.

How high would the metal value of an American nickel have to be in order for nickels to be traded for more than 5 cents a piece, perhaps on eBay?

Currently, copper is at $2.91/lb and nickel is at $5.95/lb. The metal value of a nickel is about 80-81% of its face value. I think the historical peak was about 180% of its face value. (I'm also curious about the copper-plated zinc penny.)

Given what I perceive to be the economic and technological trends, I think there's a good case to be made for rising copper prices over the next decade. I also anticipate typical levels of inflation. So is it a good time to be stockpiling boxes of nickels?

This is a related infographic called "The Bull Case for Every Energy Metal Going into 2019":

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/bull-case-every-energy-metal-2019/

[Recyclersteve]

I would try to stockpile Canadian .999 nickels from 1981 and before, but not U.S. nickel. I had a bunch of U.S. nickels (at least $800 face) sitting around for years and got sick of it and took it all to the bank. It is only 25% nickel, so I'll pass on it as an investment.

[SilverDragon72]

I wouldn't try to keep any US nickels for investment purposes. They are quite common and only 25 percent real nickel anyway. Why try to sell for more than 5 cents on Ebay? Makes no "cents" to me!

[68Camaro]

There was an argument to be made for US nickels as a modest mechanism of wealth storage at one point when both cu and ni were higher. I think the melt would have to be at least 1.2x face to warrant storing any, and even then that would be of only marginal help (but I wouldn't rule it out in a looming crisis). I had 18 boxes at one point. Sorted them down to pull out war nicks and buffs and a few potentially collectibles and turned the rest in to buy silver. I did keep my pure nickel as well - not a lot of that.

[PennyPincher]

"US nickels as a modest mechanism of wealth storage"

They seem like a good store of wealth given you still have US currency. It's almost as if you're getting a free call option on cupro-nickel alloy. The biggest problem seems to be the potential for inflation to eat away the value, but that's true of a $100 bill as well. Currently, using boxes of nickels as a "modest mechanism of wealth storage" makes a fair amount of sense to me.

The extra bit of motivation is that by stockpiling something like 10 boxes of nickels, one would likely find some silver war nickels (or older coins) in such a batch.

[galenrog]

While I do not store nicks generally, I do put away all war nicks, errors, proofs, and select dates. Buffs and “V”s also. This is primarily for collectors. I currently have a list of over 200 that I email blast a few times a year with inventory.

In my case, I think I have a better and more consistent margin than storage.

Time for more coffee.

[Recyclersteve]

It wasn't mentioned here, but some people save the 2009 nickels as well, which are pretty hard to find.

[OneBiteAtATime]

I saved every nickel I obtained for years - but then when I moved I dumped them.

[Recyclersteve]

Even though the posting is old, I wanted to add something to it...

Something else wasn't mentioned in this posting and that is the current value of the coins. Let's take a bank box of $100 in nickels vs. a bank box of $250 in dimes. Assume all the nickels are .999 Canadian nickels and all the dimes are 90% silver (junk silver) U.S. dimes. Further, let's assume all the coins have been gone through and there are no really good collector dates in either box.

The nickel box is currently worth approximately $127.60. 100 of the .999 nickels weighs 1 pound, so a box of 2,000 weighs 20# net.
20 X $6.38/lb. (per Kitcometals.com) is $127.60.

The dime box has 2,500 coins (50 rolls of 50 coins each). $250.00 face in junk silver is currently worth $2,965.00 per coininfo.com. This is with silver being valued at $16.35 per kitco.com.

Even though the dime box is quite a bit smaller than the nickel box, it is worth more than 23 times as much. Stated differently, if you had 23 boxes of nickels hidden somewhere and I had 1 box of dimes, we'd both have about the same amount stashed away. Yet, my stash would take up much less space and would probably be a lot easier to sell.

You could make the same argument about gold taking up much less space than silver, and, for someone truly wealthy, that may be something to consider. But gold is also heavily counterfeited, harder to get change for in barter situations, etc.

All that said, I like both nickel and silver and have invested in both. My gold holdings are very minimal. Oh yeah, there is copper too and I keep a fair amount of it on hand as a decoy in case I was ever robbed. The good stuff is offsite- the copper can stay with me.

[Silver4face]

It has been two and a half years since the last response to this post. Therefore, I am changing that due to recent metal prices. When this post was started, the melt value of an American nickel was 80 percent of face. It is now approximately 130 percent of face. Therefore, I am wondering what people will do if it reaches 150 percent? Especially if it maintains that level!

[Morsecode]

The end will come quickly, with the stroke of an Executive Order. The announcement's impact won't last more than a couple news cycles.

Although, inflation is so bad right now (politically as well as economically) Brandon's handlers may shy away from telling Americans to 'just round up to the next ten cents' for a spell. At least until after the mid-terms, when they can blame the GOP majority House and Senate for the ongoing crisis.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

Get all the nickels while you still can. Every time you take a box of nickels from the bank, you're actually walking out of there with a $30 profit

IMO, pennies boxes are really not worth getting anymore because the zincs have significantly diluted what coppers are left out there. I've gotten many skunk boxes over the past 6 months, but I still keep them because zinc pennies are now very close (95%) to their face value.

[Silver4face]

Get all the nickels while you still can. Every time you take a box of nickels from the bank, you're actually walking out of there with a $30 profit

IMO, pennies boxes are really not worth getting anymore because the zincs have significantly diluted what coppers are left out there. I've gotten many skunk boxes over the past 6 months, but I still keep them because zinc pennies are now very close (95%) to their face value.

I like reading your posts, and I agree with almost everything you say, BUT I have to disagree with you on the PENNIES BOXES. I am still finding a decent amount of copper, and I have a buyer for it. Also, I pulled over 2000 wheats last year and over 300 this month. I am also finding dimes (9 cent profit) and MS pennies that I can sell and or hoard.

[Morsecode]

I like looking through Lincolns as much as the next guy, but it is hard to argue against the automatic (albeit unrealized) 30% gain with the built-in even money stop loss.

Was by the bank this noon and cancelled my penny box for next week and switched to Jeffs.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

Get all the nickels while you still can. Every time you take a box of nickels from the bank, you're actually walking out of there with a $30 profit

IMO, pennies boxes are really not worth getting anymore because the zincs have significantly diluted what coppers are left out there. I've gotten many skunk boxes over the past 6 months, but I still keep them because zinc pennies are now very close (95%) to their face value.

I like reading your posts, and I agree with almost everything you say, BUT I have to disagree with you on the PENNIES BOXES. I am still finding a decent amount of copper, and I have a buyer for it. Also, I pulled over 2000 wheats last year and over 300 this month. I am also finding dimes (9 cent profit) and MS pennies that I can sell and or hoard.

Good for you. I've been getting more and more skunk boxes. When I do get some coppers, it's only about 5-10% per box. My 5gal zinc buckets are overflowing

BTW, how many boxes are you searching per month?

[Silver4face]

I would estimate 6 to 8 boxes a month. This is the time of year where I put the most effort into it. Also, I am a hand sorter.

[thecrazyone]

Wow, I did not know that US nickels were only 25% nickel. Glad I don't have a truckload of them!

As for their value, though, you guys don't still find value in them, considering that metal is used for EV car batteries?

Also, where do you order your Canadian nickels? I'm guessing a US bank won't/can't get them?

[frugi]

It has been two and a half years since the last response to this post. Therefore, I am changing that due to recent metal prices. When this post was started, the melt value of an American nickel was 80 percent of face. It is now approximately 130 percent of face. Therefore, I am wondering what people will do if it reaches 150 percent? Especially if it maintains that level!

We won’t do anything. As long as you can buy nickels at the bank at face value there isn’t much else to do. In 2012 US nickels we’re worth $0.09, and still we weren’t doing much with it. What can we do?

[Silver4face]

It has been two and a half years since the last response to this post. Therefore, I am changing that due to recent metal prices. When this post was started, the melt value of an American nickel was 80 percent of face. It is now approximately 130 percent of face. Therefore, I am wondering what people will do if it reaches 150 percent? Especially if it maintains that level!

We won’t do anything. As long as you can buy nickels at the bank at face value there isn’t much else to do. In 2012 US nickels we’re worth $0.09, and still we weren’t doing much with it. What can we do?

Even though we disagree on the year, you do raise a good point as US nickels did have a 9 cent melt value and people did nothing about it. For example, the govt did not vacuum them up for melting, exporting etc. The mint kept producing them and people did not hoard them. However, as you know, times are different now and a few members are starting to stash them away. But perhaps I should have said a higher number than 150 percent. The point I'm trying to make is that EVERYBODY associated with melt value does have a tipping point.

[68Camaro]

We've been through this before. Nickels are not a bad thing to be in given the current state of prices. Many of us stored boxes of nickels for a time, years ago. When prices dropped, including silver, it made better sense to many of us to sell the nickel back to the bank (ideally, after searching for key dates) and using the proceeds to buy silver (on which I've doubled my money). Don't be rigid on your holdings (except don't be afraid to hold silver and gold).

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

Lots of flippers on Realcent. People want to flip these coins to make some money over short term, good for them.

I'm hoarding copper and nickel for the l-o-n-g term. I treat it like PMs. Eventually Gresham's law wins.

[Recyclersteve]

Also, where do you order your Canadian nickels? I'm guessing a US bank won't/can't get them?

Sorry for the delayed response, but I get most of my .999 Canadian nickels from the foreign coin boxes at coin dealers. I don’t look at anything in a 2”x2” holder- the price will be too high.

I can’t imagine a U.S. bank being able to get Canadian nickels. Some can get currency, but coins would likely be out of the question.

[Silver4face]

I can't resist! I have to reopen this thread because the melt value is now up to 6.8 cents per. In other terms, a $100 BOX has a melt value of 136 dollars. Copper (3.83) and nickel (13.19) are the highest they've been since early to mid spring which was more than six months ago.
It won't be easy to reach or beat the 8 cent level from March, at least not in the near future, but I am thinking that they can maintain a 6.5 to 7 level for some time. Also, what if there really is a copper shortage a few years from now? Keep in mind that the u.s. nickel is 75 percent copper.

[JerrySpringer]

I can't resist! I have to reopen this thread because the melt value is now up to 6.8 cents per. In other terms, a $100 BOX has a melt value of 136 dollars. Copper (3.83) and nickel (13.19) are the highest they've been since early to mid spring which was more than six months ago.
It won't be easy to reach or beat the 8 cent level from March, at least not in the near future, but I am thinking that they can maintain a 6.5 to 7 level for some time. Also, what if there really is a copper shortage a few years from now? Keep in mind that the u.s. nickel is 75 percent copper.

Nickels may be the better coin to get over the Lincoln cent.

You don't have to sort a $100 box of nickels really to separate non-Cu coins. Lincoln cents have the better bang for the buck though ( 2.5 x face value vs. 1.36 x face value for nickels). Box of nickels weighs 22 pounds. Box of pennies weigh 15 pounds give or take. Collect both is the answer I guess.

[frugi]

i dont sort the boxes of cents anymore anyway. i highly value zinc. very few metals that are so readily available can be smelted at home without much effort. i have piles of zinc, pewter, and lead.