I vote for Nickel. While it doesn't necessarily strike up well, it does hold its own as far as corrosion and wear. I received a 58 in change yesterday and it would grade a sharp fine bordering of XF.
I had thought about Nickel and then I look back at the Buffalo and Liberty Nickels and those are really worn down. I'd like to see something that will last for decades that can withstand circulating effects. David
As far as base metals, I am not aware of anything better than nickel. You have to take into consideration that during the years the Liberty and Buffalo Nickels were minted Five Cents could still buy things. Today, even our mighty Quarter isn't seeing the circulation of years past.
I think Canada has been experimenting with the compositions of their coinage for more durability. David
Italy hit on a pretty good composition for durability. They made some of their larger denomination coins out of stainless steel. While this isn't especially hard compared to some these coins wore extremely well. The metal has a low coefficient of friction so rather than sloughing off metal as they rub against one another, they merely slide. These were also large thin coins which gave them more area to rub on and less weight pushing them together. These remained in circulation for decades and showed little wear. Even worn coins tend to be fairly shiny so new coin blends right in with the old. In the modern era durability has not been a big concern since high attritions tend to take care of the older coins and most have circulated fairly briefly before being removed and melted. As has been pointed out, the velocity of coins now days tends to be much lower due to electronic transactions and high mintages.
In 2000 the Royal Canadian Mint began issuing circulating 5-cent coins struck from their new multi-ply plated steel blanks. The process is acid based and electroplates a thin coating of nickel, then copper, then nickel again to a steel core. I have some of these coins and they have quite a brilliant shine. David
Titanium would be good, striking coins in titanium though whilst possible would be cost prohibative i should think.
I should stress that, the Titanium would be cost prohbative because it would take a lot of pressure to strike one, and the die wear would be significant.
