What is the total amount (weight) of silver in an ununcirculated 1942-45 silver war nickel? Ask another way, does anyone know how many total ounces of silver there was in a $1000.00 face bag of 35% war nickels? Thanks ahead of time.
I calculate a nickel at 5 grams X 35% silver=1.75 grams pure silver per nickel, assuming no wear. $1000=20,000 nickels, or 35,000 grams pure silver. 35,000g/31.1g=1125.4 troy ounces pure silver. This should be correct according to my Minnesota math....
Your math appears correct. This brings up an interesting point. Unlike 90% or 40% silver coins, the value of the silver in a nickel is less than face value. Therefore, it should be theoretically possible to buy a $1,000 bag of junk war nickels for close to face value and get about $800 of silver thrown into the deal. This might make nickels the absolute best way to buy silver since there is absolutely no downside risk in the purchase. I've never heard of anyone doing this and have never seen even heavily warn silver nickels sold in bulk. So maybe it can't be done. What do silver nickels graded "G" sell for these days?
The amount of pure silver in an uncirculated war nickel is 1.75 grams. At $7/oz. silver price, that equals .39 cents worth of silver per nickel, not less than face value. I do frequently see rolls of them for sale on eBay though.
Thanks folks; I appreciate the time and information. I'm told that while there is more Ag in two war nickels than there is in one pre '65 dime (same face value & 715 oz Ag/$1K 90% vs. 1125 oz Ag in $1k face 35%), the nickels should probably be purchased at a lower premium because (1) there is comparatively much more bulk and weight in the 20K nickels than in the 10K dimes, and (2) The nickels have a higher smelting/refining cost because of the more complex alloy containing 9% manganese. But wow: 1125 oz. - 715 oz. = 410 oz. x $7.00 spot = $2870 more dollars for the $1K face. Seems to me a guy might want to do the total cost math and maybe consider tolerating the bulkier storage, heavier xport, and higher payment of smelting costs for this kind of money difference. Thanks again!
p.s...... I would bet that it would be very hard to obtain a significant quantity of well-worn war nickels because most of them were probably sold and melted down in the 1980's.
The current spot price plays a part yes, but it should not be used to calculate the going rate for $1,000 face value bags of 90% silver coinage. For example - the current bid for such bags is $5,040. Bid and Ask for these bags is treated just like that for any individual coin.
