Are war nickels the red-headed stepchild of US silver?

[coindood]

I remember going to my local coin shop earlier this year and while chatting about various topics I brought up war nickels. At the time I was looking to accumulate $100/face and was curious what their prices would be. He reacted with disinterest and said something like "Whenever we get any we usually wholesale them out in bulk". I've had similar reactions from dealers at shows, displaying nowhere near the love 90% silver gets.

I understand they don't melt easy, but silver is silver. Two war nickels contain more silver than a 90% dime. Why the disdain?

[Silver4face]

Some people on both sides of the fence like them while others on both sides of the fence don't care about them. Either way, they are often considered low priority when compared to other silver. As for my local LCS , one of them was buying at a buck each and selling at two dollars each when silver was around 20. The other LCS is probably paying only .50 to .60 each and probably selling at 1-1.50. I will call tomorrow because now I am curious even though I refuse to sell mine at this time.

[galenrog]

The issue, from my perspective, is the ease of refining. The silver/copper alloy found in 90% silver coins is very easy to refine. The copper/silver/manganese alloy in war nickels is far more problematic.

Time for more coffee.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

Pulled close to 100 of them from my Ni hoarding efforts during the past 2 years.

[Recyclersteve]

If you compare the buy and sell prices of 90% silver with 35% nickels or even 40% halves, you will likely find much wider spreads on anything with 35%-40% silver. This is a sign that dealers don’t want it because it is hard to sell. In fact I can’t remember ever running into a dealer that seemed to genuinely like dealing with 35%-40% silver.

Any that I find is either sold or traded for 90%.

Someone young or on a tight budget might like it. You could consider selling it at a local coin club. One advantage of it is that it can be used as a decoy in case of potential theft. A coffee can full of either might look more expensive than it really is.

If you want to get really extreme, look at the 10% Mexican silver pesos minted in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Those are even better decoys since they are foreign.

[thecrazyone]

Got these today at an antique store! At least 3 are S coins.

[Robarons]

Think you guys nailed it.

Their hard to refine. They take just as long as 90% silver and Sterling Scrap. The same labor and costs for much lower yield. The Manganese is considered a toxic metal and just hard to deal with.

Lots refiners near me do not accept 35% Silver War Nickels for refining- any at price. Think if silver hits $50 or $100 or whatever price point you have the end user in these scenarios are going to be refiners. Had older dealers say in the 1980's during that big silver melt anything bought was going straight to refiners, since the public was interesting in dumping (not buying) silver.

Spread is I sold a few hundred War Nickels for 85 cents each. You could buy them back from the same guy for 95 cents, maybe $1

[wheeler_dealer]

I scored a gallon size bag of mixed nickels a few years ago at an auction. I knew there were silver nickels mixed in. My competition was not paying attention or the three bags of silver war nickels he "beat" me when he paid almost full value for were enough. I pulled out around seven rolls. I also added a bunch of dust collecting rolls of silver nickels and sold them on Craigslist. This was during wall street silver squeeze and the buyer was happy because he couldn't get any 90% or rounds. I was happy to oblige and quickly turned the FRN's into 90%.
I notice that silver nickels tend to be the only full box at my dealers shop.

[JerrySpringer]

War nickels still are in OK circulation. In a SHTF scenario, they have some value just like coper cents would if people thought metals had value. Guess I am thinking that they might never need to be melted down for them to be barterable for something. The converse is what would the metals scene be like if all of a sudden war nickels traded for a major discount to spot, like 50% discount or worse?

[thecrazyone]

Guess I got jipped today

[wheeler_dealer]

Guess I got jipped today

Wouldn't say that. If you enjoy a hobby and you invest in it then all good. I (and many others) have made purchases of things we liked or considered a good find. Remember that they will always make more paper currency. Silver nickels I doubt. You own them and that's more than most can say.
Consider what it might cost in time and expenses to buy and sort rolls/boxes to find as many as you just scored in one place. Pat yourself on the back. You did well. Some day in the future you will look back and smile thinking about what a good thing it was to have gotten them.

[68Camaro]

Inexpensive war nickels, especially those found in CRH, are arguably the best value silver that can be commonly had. War nickels have the highest value to face ratio of any US coin, so you get a lot of bang for your nickel. And while they are somewhat less easily sold or traded, they can still be taken by refiners in exchange for bullion.

Not my favorite coin, but nothing wrong with seeking or collecting them.

[thecrazyone]

Thanks, guys.