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Investment Of The Century: U.S. Minted Nickels

For anyone who wants to make an immediate 80% return on your investment, go to your local bank with your worthless Federal Reserve Notes and tell them that you'd like to exchange them for rolls of nickels. On its face this might seem ridiculous and absurd and the bank teller might even look at you like you have three heads, but by exchanging your Federal Reserve Notes for nickels you will have made a risk free investment with an immediate positive return of 80%.

I've briefly mentioned this in previous articles, but what we are now seeing with pennies and nickels is similar to what took place in the late 1960's. In the late 1960's the melt value of circulating silver coins began to exceed the face value of the coins themselves. As people began to realize that the coin melt value was worth more than the face value, people began to keep these coins which ended their circulation. I believe that the same thing will happen to pennies and nickels. Currently the melt value of copper pennies is over twice the face value and the melt value of zinc pennies is almost equal to their face value. Each nickel now has a melt value of approximately 9 cents. This means that if you go into a bank and buy $1,000 worth of nickels those nickels are actually worth $1,800.

The bottom line is that the coinage that is produced by the U.S. Mint is the only honest money left in circulation. The coins themselves store value because of their metal content where as Federal Reserve Notes store no value. Federal Reserve Notes are a dishonest fraud because nothing can be redeemed for them at the Federal Reserve banks. As the Federal Reserve continues to create additional money, coins like pennies and nickels will emerge as another form of protection against inflation because regardless of how much money is created the coins will always have some intrinsic value.


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Here is another good site that looks up to date;


Ron Paul 2012

I'm not going out an dinvesting in nickels...

but I am setting aside the nickels and 1982 (and older)pennies I just happen to have. I sorted through my change bucket the other day (well it took me a couple of days). My husband has been wanting to cash in the change bucket for a year or more and I kept saying no, not until I go through it. Keep in mind it's a change bucket that's about 10 yrs old. So I finally did (I have one more large bowl to sort through), but I'm keeping the nickels, the pre 83 pennies and I even found a dime worth 2.09...

I figure if the dollar goes bust, 2 rolls of pennies in a barter world will be worth 3 bucks (melt value)... maybe I'm roping windmills, but I figure it's worth a shot. On a side note, a loaf of bread today cost me $2.25... makes me think that dime from 1957 is pretty cool!



Interesting, thanks

END the FED before it ENDS US

Be Careful

I believe some here are confusing the COST TO MAKE A NICKEL with the VALUE OF THE METAL IN A NICKEL. It costs more to make a nickle, stamping, striking, wrapping and transporting, than the salvage value of the nickel.

What you might do is save scrap copper - old copper tubing, copper radiators (car), air conditioner coils, wire, etc. Its scrap value has gone up. If you have room for a big box or bin on your place, think about that. Those who saved it when it was under a dollar can probably get three times the price for scrap now. Remember the scrap dealer has to make a profit too, and ship the scrap, bundle it, etc.

You won't get rich, but you may make a few bucks.

The only way to make money in the scrap metal business is to start with genuine scrap.

Melt value based on market price

But you need large quantities, like many tons.

Scrap dealers around here usually pay 1/3 market prices as scrap aggregators.

Nickels are useful if the dollar crashes. If I have to barter, having a minted US coin with some intrinsic value carries more weight in trade.

The fact that it is minted makes it useful. The fact that it is nickel and copper makes it useful as a raw material.

If all one can do is save a nickel a day after their cost of living. What's the safest bet?

Free includes debt-free!

The metal in the nickels is

The metal in the nickels is worth less than 5 cents. You are correct about the fact that the silver in our pre-1965 dimes, quarters and halves exceeded their face values. And Gresham's Law came into effect - bad money drives our good.

Currently, pre-1982 pennies have more than a cents worth of copper. I think that there is about a penny and a half at the moment. When copper was high, it was almost two cents worth.

So if your eyes are good enough, you might want to save your pre-1982 pennies. Incidentally, in 1982 both the copper, and the copper-plated zinc pennies were produced.

Didn't work three years ago

Take note that if you had done this three years ago you would be under water. The values of Federal Reserve Notes, nickel and copper have all fallen vs. other essential goods, such as food and energy.

I did a spoof video about this subject over three years ago, during a money-bomb campaign.

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Currently 0% return

Buying nickels nets 0% immediate return, because there is currently no market that pays a premium to face value for nickels - not even a black market. If there were, there would be no nickels in circulation, just as there are hardly any pre-1965 dimes and quarters in circulation.

There is no such thing as a risk-free store of wealth. Future wealth depends on future demand for various commodities, and that is unknowable. It's true that a US nickel will always be worth at least 1/20th of a US Federal Reserve Note, and it will ultimately be worth at least the value of its metal-content. But it is possible for both of those values to decline vs. other goods. Imagine the "worst case scenario" in which the FRN goes Wiemar and industry virtually shuts down. FRN's would be worth zilch, and industrial metals like nickel and copper would buy very little food and shelter compared to today.

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Not sure I fully agree. Here's a century of data


Free includes debt-free!

What did I say that's not right?

What did I say that's not right?

Ĵīɣȩ Ɖåđşŏń


Currently 33% return

not 80%.

Hold a paper dollar & it will lose that much in 4 years or less


Free includes debt-free!

US Nickel (1946 - 2011): 6.547 cents per US Nickel today.

Jan 07, 2011 - According to: http://www.CoinFlation.com


  • $4.2671 = copper price / pound .75 = copper %
  • $10.9564 = nickel price / pound
    .25 = nickel %


  1. Calculate 75% copper value :

    (4.2671 × .00220462262 × 5.00 × .75) = $0.0352771

  2. Calculate 25% nickel value :

    (10.9564 × .00220462262 × 5.00 × .25) = $0.0301930

  3. Add the two together :

    $0.0352771 + $0.0301930 = $0.0654701

$0.0654701 is the melt value for the 1946-2011 nickel on January 07, 2011.

Then add in any acquisition & disposition cost and you have your value to you.

In the mean time, it is a sure, albeit heavy, way to preserve your merger wealth.

Dear BobbyW24 & other would be investors,

Not the deal of the century. Just a simple way to preserve wealth. This is as it should be. This is one to the last remaining examples of debt promise exchange for money without any fees, commissions or markups.

Ben Franklin adage: A [copper] penny saved is a penny earned.

Updated the Ben Franklin adage: Two US Nickels [1946 - 2011 25% nickel & 75% copper] saved is @ 6.5 cent value each, is 3 cents earned.


Yes, but you can't melt them

Yes, but you can't melt them down. The only time you'd be able to melt them down is if/when the Federal Reserve Bank is dissolved.

And even then, copper is traded by the ton. Copper is currently trading at around $9600 per ton.

How hard would it be for you to hide or to even store 2000lbs of metal? And for what? 10K? I'd much rather get some gold or silver and easily store it somewhere in my house as opposed to devoting a whole room to old nickels.

And on top of that, there is far more copper in the world than silver or gold. If you are banking on the fact that the metal will become scarce and therefore more expensive, then you would want to put your money on the items with the least supply and most demand in order to maximize profits. That would be silver or gold -- or even rare earths.

Even if you did want to invest in copper, why not invest in pure .999 copper bullion?


Actually it is not true that they can't be melted down

If they are rubbed and worn through circulation so that they no longer represent the specie they started as they can be melted as the metal they are.

Who is to say otherwise anyway? I have some bags of coins that are rubbed so smooth there is no clear writing on them at all.

All metal will lose weight and will wear over time with friction.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Of course they can be melted down

They cannot be melted down legally. Congress passed that law about four years ago. Nickels have never been specie. Even when the dollar was supposedly backed by gold and silver, pennies and nickels were token money.

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Hundreds or thousands of pounds of copper doesn't take much space. Much less than a whole room. You'd be surprised how much can be stacked on one single pallet.

And it doesn't matter how much copper is in the world, the intriguing thing is that a copper penny is almost worth 3 cents, and can be had for 1 cent. So it doesn't have to be scarce, because it's already worth triple what it can be "bought" for.

From what I've seen, .999 pure copper bullion will cost you much much more than it's melt value.


Where can one buy copper pennies for a penny? Anyone trading copper pennies for current (mostly zinc) pennies, or 100 copper pennies for a US paper dollar, would immediately sell out.

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Copper pennies (pre 1983) are

Copper pennies (pre 1983) are all over the place. In penny rolls, in penny drops at stores..everywhere, still circulated widely..

550 pounds per cubic foot = $2200


Free includes debt-free!

Only copper pennies before 1982

After that the became zinc pennies worth today .65 cents.

Still metal is not paper or bits in the bank's computer

Free includes debt-free!

nickels and pennies

As of today, the metal content of a nickel is worth 6.5 cents, not 9 cents. The metal content of a copper penny is 2.8 cents. The metal content of a zinc penny is worth 2/3 of a cent. By the way, please note that it is illegal to melt U.S. nickels and pennies.

Why melt them, they are real Coin, assayed and minted.

Save them for a rainy day.

Free includes debt-free!

Interesting. where how and

Interesting. where how and when do you sell them?

where to sell?

You have to find someone willing to pay you more than it would cost them to get them at any bank themselves. They can't be sold for scrap or melt.

There actually are people on ebay that buy and sell copper pennies for above face value, usually by the pound. Check it out.

check ebay

they selling for $

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put my 2 cents in

I used to wonder why it was "a penny for your thoughts", but you had to "put your two cents in", now I know, they were using copper pennies.

Wow, what a great find

penny for your thoughts. lol
