Curious guys as I know little to nothing about coins.....Are 64 and older nickels silver?......If so they don't seem to shine that much..........I'm learning more about coins from the forum and Thanks for that.....I did find a few pieces of silver the other day......A nice ring and a religious medal.......Dave in Balto
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Nickels
- Thread starter Teddybear
- Start date
MNCoinhunter
Active member
You are not entirely wrong. Nickels from 1942 to 1945 are 35% silver. Look for the large mintmark above Monticello on the reverse of the coin !
No silver, except as McDave says for what are called the, "War Nickels."
Interestingly, the nickel today is worth something around 7+ cents. Nickel has become a much valued commodity on the world markets, and everyone from China to Sweden wants it. Developing nations around the world need the stuff to make strong, useful steel.
Added to this is the fact that it has never been in large supply. One reason Nazi Germany wanted to control Scandinavia was for nickel. They ended up with Norway, but cut deals with Sweden for, you guessed it - nickel and steel.
So today demand is up, while supply is down. This drives the price higher, making it cost more to make a nickel than it is actually worth.
This same thing happened to silver coins back in the 50's. By 1965, they were eventually withdrawn from circulation, as we know.
Their replacements were the cupronickel "clad" coins, still circulating today. They are a sandwich of copper and nickel with the same weight, appearance and electrical characteristics of their predecessors. They offer another benefit in that they are tough; that outer shell of nickel has kept many 1965 quarters and dimes still circulating in good condition. Silver on the other hand is relatively soft and wears quickly, necessitating replacement.
This same devaluation happened again with the one cent coins through the 70's. They lingered along that way for some time, actually, the government purposefully taking a loss on them. This was simply because people loved them. But in 1982, something had to give and they were changed from their former bronze alloy. Instead the One Cent** coin of today is a die stamped, zinc planchet that is copper washed. You'll know them as our worthless, rotting 'zincers'.
** WE dont have "pennies," actually. We have 'One Cent' coins, their official name. Pick one up and look at it, it says that on the reverse.
During the formation of this country, we wanted to break from the British sterling coinage that we had been using for so long - even in name.
So we borrowed from the French decimal system, where one hundredth is known as "centime." Thus the name, 'one cent' was born.
So today it is the nickel coin that is under assault from economic forces. Talk is that the nickel is to be replaced with something made from steel or another cheap alloy. Canada and many other countries have been doing this for years. Metal detectors react differently on their coins, than here. I recall Belizean coins made of aluminum, too.
I don't think there are ANY nations that now circulate silver coinage, and few have full copper pieces in general use. The best you see are variations of brass, zinc, copper-tin and other crappy alloy combinations.
The bottom line is we don't have real money any more, not in the traditional sense. There are no 'noble' metals in our coins; we have only paper promises and metallic tokens. Our governments don't operate on hard valued "specie" (coin and bullion) and have not for long time. There are no ties to any thing of intrinsic value behind our money.
The first coins minted by the newly formed United States, were struck from silver, some of which George Washington donated from his own household - silver candle sticks, flatware and tea pots! Now that is a hard valued currency!
But the gold in Fort Knox was surpassed in value by our debt decades ago. It is now more of a curiosity... it has value, of course, but our currency has little connection to it.
In fact, during the Great Depression the government saw fit to ban the private ownership of gold specie. They badly needed the hard money and people were hoarding the stuff.
Sound familiar?
I would not be surprised with the flood of gold seen today and its ever growing value, that they don't do it again. Gotta love 'em!
Interestingly, the nickel today is worth something around 7+ cents. Nickel has become a much valued commodity on the world markets, and everyone from China to Sweden wants it. Developing nations around the world need the stuff to make strong, useful steel.
Added to this is the fact that it has never been in large supply. One reason Nazi Germany wanted to control Scandinavia was for nickel. They ended up with Norway, but cut deals with Sweden for, you guessed it - nickel and steel.
So today demand is up, while supply is down. This drives the price higher, making it cost more to make a nickel than it is actually worth.
This same thing happened to silver coins back in the 50's. By 1965, they were eventually withdrawn from circulation, as we know.
Their replacements were the cupronickel "clad" coins, still circulating today. They are a sandwich of copper and nickel with the same weight, appearance and electrical characteristics of their predecessors. They offer another benefit in that they are tough; that outer shell of nickel has kept many 1965 quarters and dimes still circulating in good condition. Silver on the other hand is relatively soft and wears quickly, necessitating replacement.
This same devaluation happened again with the one cent coins through the 70's. They lingered along that way for some time, actually, the government purposefully taking a loss on them. This was simply because people loved them. But in 1982, something had to give and they were changed from their former bronze alloy. Instead the One Cent** coin of today is a die stamped, zinc planchet that is copper washed. You'll know them as our worthless, rotting 'zincers'.
** WE dont have "pennies," actually. We have 'One Cent' coins, their official name. Pick one up and look at it, it says that on the reverse.
During the formation of this country, we wanted to break from the British sterling coinage that we had been using for so long - even in name.
So we borrowed from the French decimal system, where one hundredth is known as "centime." Thus the name, 'one cent' was born.
So today it is the nickel coin that is under assault from economic forces. Talk is that the nickel is to be replaced with something made from steel or another cheap alloy. Canada and many other countries have been doing this for years. Metal detectors react differently on their coins, than here. I recall Belizean coins made of aluminum, too.
I don't think there are ANY nations that now circulate silver coinage, and few have full copper pieces in general use. The best you see are variations of brass, zinc, copper-tin and other crappy alloy combinations.
The bottom line is we don't have real money any more, not in the traditional sense. There are no 'noble' metals in our coins; we have only paper promises and metallic tokens. Our governments don't operate on hard valued "specie" (coin and bullion) and have not for long time. There are no ties to any thing of intrinsic value behind our money.
The first coins minted by the newly formed United States, were struck from silver, some of which George Washington donated from his own household - silver candle sticks, flatware and tea pots! Now that is a hard valued currency!
But the gold in Fort Knox was surpassed in value by our debt decades ago. It is now more of a curiosity... it has value, of course, but our currency has little connection to it.
In fact, during the Great Depression the government saw fit to ban the private ownership of gold specie. They badly needed the hard money and people were hoarding the stuff.
Sound familiar?
I would not be surprised with the flood of gold seen today and its ever growing value, that they don't do it again. Gotta love 'em!
[size=large]I for one don't give our gov't reps any credit for the official reasons they do things. The FDR admint. gave our country away to the federal reserve in 1929. stealing everyones gold and replacing it with worthless promissory notes backed by nothing. but that's jmo.
my post is to recommend any and all detectorists to get themselves a copy of either, The RED book or The BLUE book. tells all about coins used in the usa from the start. if nothing else maybe your local library may have a copy. very informative reading. unless you're a collector or deal in coins you don't need the most resent copy. a used one will give you a pretty good idea of what you want to know about your coin and even then there's the web. just full of free info. as is though dahut filled in the answer pretty well.
HH/size]
my post is to recommend any and all detectorists to get themselves a copy of either, The RED book or The BLUE book. tells all about coins used in the usa from the start. if nothing else maybe your local library may have a copy. very informative reading. unless you're a collector or deal in coins you don't need the most resent copy. a used one will give you a pretty good idea of what you want to know about your coin and even then there's the web. just full of free info. as is though dahut filled in the answer pretty well.
HH/size]