How long until the Nickel is debased?

[mleblanc138]

Obama's 2011 budget plan includes a change in the Nickel to make it mostly Zinc. A quick Google on Obama Zinc Nickel will show this. So I'm guessing that the Nickel as we know it will last another year or two at most, or as little time as a few months. Guess everyone needs to start buying Nickel boxes.

 

[FingerGrime]

Wow. This is the first I have heard of it.
Zinc coins suck. They should use something that is more durable. I guess those materials tend to be more expensive though...

 

[brewboss]

Does anyone think that when the nickle and penny are Legal to melt that the market will be flooded with them, causing the market to drop? There's guys on here with garages full of them.

 

[cdickrun64]

Losing prop to store nickels, in my opinion. It will be at least 20 years before you could cash them in for melt value......meanwhile your money is earning no interest.......they would have to be worth 6x face for you to be ahead of the game

 

[Tuberale]

With a weight of 5.000 grams and a composition of 60% copper, 40% nickel (cupro-nickel or copper nickel), I've thought it makes a lot of sense to have a few bucks in rolls.

When Congress made it illegal to melt nickels 2 years ago (2009) the problem remained that sooner or later people would take their nickels to Canada.

3 grams copper and 2 grams nickel means the nickel is the only US coin that currently is worth more than its face value. And climbing.

 

[blkcwbyhat]

I really would not worry yet.I'm sure there have been test's ran about what alloy's and such would be better,but you won't see them for a year or 2 probably. As far as melt value,its just like dealers not wanting 40% halves,as the melt cost is too high,so they claim. Being a machinist/metallurgist,it all go's in the same bucket! The current good thing about a nickel is that it needs no sorting out,but if its the copper you want,collect clad dimes or halves.

 

[FingerGrime]

Pretty soon we will be hunting "zincs" instead of "nickels".

 

[mleblanc138]

Pretty soon we will be hunting "zincs" instead of "nickels".

Actually we will be hunting the old Copper/Nickel Nickels just like we hunt Copper Pennies today. Keep in mind that even now, nearly 28 years after the Penny was debased, we still find on average 6-10 Copper Pennies per roll. Even if the roll says "$2 Zincs" it will still take a while for all the old Nickels to leave.