Mint ready to implement alloy change for coins pending approval https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-c...ange-for-coins-pending-congressional-approval I figured this was coming soon when I noticed the melt value of a nickel was 5.5 cents a couple weeks ago. I've been hoarding nickels and pre82 copper cents for years from my pocket change and my wife purse.
I remember someone here in FL getting robbed during a party - they had a huge nickel stash, rolls in bank boxes. Something crazy like $18k in nickels stored in a cupboard. Someone found it and cleaned it out during the party. Found the article - 360,000 nickels, $18,000, they weighed 3,968lb or 1800kg! https://www.huffpost.com/entry/18000-nickel-theft_n_6761312
Oh I'd be sick. But then if I had $18,000 in nickels that might be questionable too haha. I mean he has every right to stack nickels....but why. I remembered a guy that was traveling and working with us a few summers ago and we talked about things alot and I told him about how I coin roll hunted some and he thought that was really cool. He was a forestry firefighter from Oregon and was taking some time away from that. Well, I think we were in Durango working at a bank and he went in and bought a big box of nickels and was so excited to see the silver inside after work. I had told him I never hunted nickels cuz theres only a few years of war nickels and only 35 percent but anyway he wanted nickels. We finished work for the day and no sooner heading to the hotel and he dove into that box like a kid on Christmas morning only to find it's a brand new box of 2018s haha. It was the funniest phukin thing and I laughed so hard, he was crushed. He opened all the rolls in his hotel room and the bank wouldnt take back a box of loose nickels was the funniest part. I said something like "Jesus! We rely on guys like you to protect our forests!? No wonder they are always on fire!" Big dumb kid haha. Sometimes you gotta slow down to go faster.
The way we began talking was pretty funny too. He told me had had stashes of jars full of coins buried around in case things got bad and he needed money, but would he safe and buried. I said that was a great idea but he needs to replace the clad with silver and he might have something. I could see the wheels turning and we started talking about metals and he understood what I meant right away. A smart big dumb Oregon kid I should say. I havent seen him in a few years but hopefully he replaced the buried clad with silver.
Same reason that people stack pre 83 pennies for their copper content - the nickel is worth more than the face value. I don't think there's any legitimate way to cash in though, unless an above-face value market develops for nickel-content nickels.
You got very pretty coins. I got a 1 cent and a dime in change after the royal carribean cruise. The australian ten cents is also very cool. Our coins are just plated steel and look just like polished stainless steel, there's no mint shine. The other coins I saw regionally are about the same. The HK coins are massive, too big for the wallet. Same as the yuan coins, you need a ziplock bag for it.
I keep the pre82 copper cents too, all in pickle jars. You cant melt them legally yet but you can sell them on Ebay and people will pay melt for them. I dont know why I've kept copper all these years but it's the coin guy in me I suppose.