A NICKEL IS WORTH MORE THAN A NICKEL

Today, everything you would want to know about a nickel, the coin and the mineral.  Why?  It's big news this week.

• Nickel, the coin, is 25% nickel, the mineral.  
• The rest is copper.
• Nickel at 8.33% is used in other coins.

• But nickel, the mineral, was taken out of the nickel, the coin, during World War II and replaced with manganese and silver.
• For those who don't use coins anymore, it is worth 5 cents.
• Introduced in 1866 as the Civil War ended.

• 
  Nickel, the mineral:
• Is element #28, between cobalt and copper in the periodic table of elements.
• Many meteorites consist of nickel-iron alloy.
• The explosion of Supernova 2007bi created a mass of nickel three times greater than that of our Sun.  Not to worry, for this occurred 1.6 billion light years away.

• 
  First recognized in 1751 by Swedish alchemist Baron Axel Fredrik, who called this new element nickel.
• Nickel allergy is the most common cause of contact dermatitis.
• Adding nickel to glass gives it a green color.
• One kilogram (2.2 pounds) of nickel can be drawn into 300 kilometers (186 miles) of wire.
• Is an essential element for plant life, and the concentration is especially high in chocolate and wine.
• Is known to cause cancer.

• 
  It is the FIFTH most abundant element on Earth.
• Is one of four elements that can be magnetized, with cobalt, iron and gadolinium.
• Good conductor of electricity and heat.
• Melts at 2651 F.
• Mostly used to make stainless steels, and is a major component of lithium-ion batteries.

• World production of nickel ore:
• Indonesia  30.4%
• Philippines  12.8%
• Russia  11.2%
• New Caledonia  8%
• Australia  7%
• Canada  7%
• 
  Who has the most nickel ores (in million metric tons)?
• Indonesia  21
• Australia  21
• Brazil  16
• Russia  7.5
• Philippines  4.8
• China  2.8
• Canada  2
• USA  0.34

• The Ukraine war has jerked up the price of nickel.
• Worth $29,000/ton on March 4.
• On March 8 went up past $100,000/ton.  The market was shut down for a week.
• The price of nickel was relatively stable in the past decade:

• More recently:

• 
  A nickel coin is worth more than 5 cents.
• At $50,000/ton, the exact price of nickel, the mineral, yesterday, a nickel coin is worth 6.25 cents.
• Today, nickel fell to $43,000/ton, and is thus still a bit more than 5 cents.
• When up to $100,000/ton, a nickel is worth 16 cents, with 3.75 cents from the copper.
• Nickel cost $21,000/ton early this year, and also showed similar volatility in 1979, 1988 and 1992.

For those intrigued about the value of coins, here is a site that shows a few surprises.  Melt value:

• Roosevelt Dimes (1946-1964), had 90% Silver and 10% Copper = $1.85
• Washington Quarters (1932-1964), 90%  Silver and 10% Copper = $4.62
• Kennedy Half Dollars (1964), 90% Silver and 10% Copper = $9.23
• Kennedy Half Dollars (1971-present), 92% Copper and 8% Nickel = $0.14

The 1794 Glowing Hair Silver Dollar sold at auction in 2013 for $10 million, and there are at least 120 of them in existence today.

The penny long used the copper/nickel combination.  During WWII the nickel was taken out and replaced with steel.  However, one day, a few 1943 Lincoln Head Copper Pennies were mistakenly made using only copper.   Maybe from 20-40 exist today.  While the typical penny of that year now has a value of 30-40 cents, this fully copper version sold in a 2019 auction for $204,000.  Earlier, another of this rare coin sold in 2010 for $1.75 million.  Check your grandparents' stash.  If you discover a 1943 penny that is not magnetic, you have found a fortune.

The Atlantic says It's a Great Time to Hoard Nickels.  While that was published this week, New York Magazine before the Ukraine War started was prescient in January of this year with What Happened to America's Quarters.  So the problem is not nickels, but coins.  Las Vegas was also smart, and today only Circus Circus has coin-operated slot machines.

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