Gold Barron

Recycling U.S. Coins into Silver

Michael,

You asked about content of Jefferson nickels....Nickels do not contain any silver (except 1942-1946 - they contain 35% silver) they contain 75% copper and 25% nickel. As of tonight, the actual metal value of a Jefferson nickel is 4.79 cents. Early in 2008, a nickel was worth 8 cents.

Any US penny struck before 1983 is 90% copper. As of today a penny contains almost 2 cents worth of copper. In 2008 when copper peaked a penny was worth over 3 cents.

In 2008, the government passed a law that made it illegal to melt down pennies and nickels because some guys doing just that. They figured if they went to the bank and withdrew $1000 worth of pennies, they could melt it down and sell it for well over a $1000.

Here is a good site that gives actual metal value of each US coin.

coinflation.com

Enjoy! :)

Recycling U.S. Coins into Silver

Just wanted to let you know that every nickel is still made of nickel and copper. So you might want to save your nickels because their metal content is almost equal to their value and will most certainly appreciate over time.