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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,676 |
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Valued Member
Canada
262 Posts |
Quote:
$0.0500348 is the melt value for the 1946-2012 nickel on September 07, 2012. How long can this last? EDIT: Also, after everything is said and done last year the cost was 11.2 cents to make a nickel, won't be much if any better this year. Edited by MercuryDime
09/07/2012 9:01 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
On last count I have about $1,000 in nickels in storage which are now worth... (drumroll) ... about $1,000.34 in metal value alone!
Woo! 34 cents over face! I think I'll buy half a stick of gum! :-)
Of course those aren't in storage for bullion value, rather they're for CRH... :-)
EDIT: The combined worth of the war, buffalo, and low mintage nickels I pull from CRH that amount comes out to about $25-50 depending on luck, so $0.34 has a bit to catch up on. ;-)
Edited by SteveCaruso
09/07/2012 9:40 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
Mercurydime.... if you look at historical charts...only just a year ago when copper was at almost $5 a pound a nickel was over 6¢ in metallic value....and stayed above 5¢ for quite a while. That is why the nickel along with the cent were banned from being melted down back in 2006.
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Valued Member
 Canada
262 Posts |
@unholyroller that's why I said it went above 5 cents again today [for the first time this year].
@SteveCaruso But when they were at about 6 cents in metal value a year or two ago... Also my point is this is an impossible cost for a coin...
Edited by MercuryDime
09/07/2012 11:23 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
@MercuryDime - Heh aye they were a bit higher, then metals took a dip, but in all honesty it's only a matter of time before the prices go up and stick. We're now on the cusp of what happened with the price of silver in 1963 vis a vis dimes, quarters and half dollars.
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Valued Member
United States
110 Posts |
Also have to look at the cost it takes to make the other denoms...reminds me of the quarter dollars in the 1800`s when everyone would keep them for the silver and use the pesos for trade since thats what they were using anyway. They had the same exchange rate but the earlier quarters were heavier with silver and not as recognizable as the Mexican coinage, so they were hoarded...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
927 Posts |
At the rate our government moves these days, it could be a few more years with the nickels using the same composition. Who know what the metal value will be when they finally do something about it. I am sure it will be over 5 cents.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1027 Posts |
I still don't see any problem with the initial cost of some coins being over face value, or even with the melt value exceeding face. The melt value has to go quite a bit higher before it becomes profitable to refine the copper, nickel, and zinc out of cents and nickels, and with the laws in force it becomes a crime not worth committing. Eleven or twelve cents for a coin that will circulate for well over 30 years seems pretty close to zero to me. Production cost versus face value is not what is important. What matters to me is production cost versus lifetime and production cost versus spend cycles. By these measures all coins are still bargains.
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Valued Member
Canada
262 Posts |
@clairhardesty The Federal Reserve buys them from the mint for face, when they cost more than twice that to produce. That's the problem. The Federal Reserve is what gets the benefit of the 30+ years in circulation [often far more because the 25 percent nickel 75 percent copper is an incredibly sturdy and durable composition]. Luckily the mint still makes profits off dimes, quarters, and dollars before they were discontinued for circulation last December and from collectors such as ourselves, otherwise they'd be yet another government agency losing money. However, I also like the fact that the coin is actually worth face whereas even back in the day the coins were worth less [even by 1964 the metal in a dime was only worth 9 cents]. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Back in 1866 it probably cost less than half a cent to make a nickel, now it costs more than 11.
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Valued Member
United States
242 Posts |
Pardon my ignorance, I'm having problems parsing the English but the paragraph intrigues me. What was discontinued for circulation last December? I cant even seem to make a guess which parts of the prior sentences go with that but I am curious what got discontinued. :P
Thanks!
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
141 Posts |
does anyone actually melt down coins to sell for bars and or rounds anyways? how would you go by melting down nickels or pennys to make bars, and then selling them to actually make the money from the melt value? I dont think its worth it, especially since you can get into trouble
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,676 |
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Posted 09/07/2012 8:41 pm
