Indonesia has stopped exporting nickel ore; I believe I read somewhere that they provide about 18% of the world's supply, no source on that # though. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/12/indonesia-minerals-idUSL3N0KM01W20140112
Both Ukraine, (russia huge miner), and indonesia I heard. Nickel is a very useful metal, I thinking hoarding current five cent pieces is not the worst idea in the world. Yes, I know they are all the same alloy, but you get more copper and nickel in the five cent pieces. One of these days they will change the composition and they will disappear quick.
Latest Gov report indicates that it cost more to produce a 5 cent (Nickel) it appears that perhaps a metal change may be decided upon for future nickel production..that is what I read a few short weeks ago.
Pretty much every commodity can be an investment opportunity. But I don't think you would buy a nickel bar and keep it in a safe deposit box. Christian
That is true, but I save copper pennies. Space is an issue. Green18 - I get my paychecks every week from base metals. It all depends on horizons etc, but I get your point.
Interesting topic. Melt value vs. cost of production needs to be noted, but it appears it is illegal to melt coinage for its base metal value. I never knew that! So you can save all of those nickels, but you cant melt them down.... From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin) Increase in metal values[edit] In the first decade of the 21st century, commodity prices for copper and nickel, which make up the five-cent coin, rose dramatically, pushing the cost of manufacturing a nickel from 3.46 cents in fiscal year 2003 to 10.09 cents in fiscal year 2012.[107] By comparison, aCanadian nickel (which is primarily made of steel) still costs less than its face value to produce as of 2013.[108] In response, Mint Director Henrietta Fore in 2004 asked Congress to fund research into lower-cost alternatives to present coinage metals. Although the initiative lapsed when she left office in 2005, in 2010, Congress passed the Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act, directing the Mint to explore alternatives to the present compositions of the six denominations, from cent to dollar. In 2011, the Mint awarded a contract to study the issue to Concurrent Technologies Corporation of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.[109] The report in response to the legislation requested additional time to study the issue, ensuring the continuation, for the present, of the existing coinage metals.[110]The Mint expects demand for nickels in commerce to increase from 840 million needed in Fiscal Year 2011 to 1.08 billion in 2015.[111] Meanwhile, in an attempt to avoid losing large quantities of circulating nickels to melting, the United States Mint introduced new interim rules on December 14, 2006, that criminalized the melting and export of pennies (which as of 2013 cost 1.83 cents to produce) and nickels. Violators of these rules can be punished with a fine of up to $10,000, five years imprisonment, or both. The rules were finalized on April 17, 2007.[112][109] The melt value of a nickel for some time was more than five cents, including nearing double its face value in May 2007. Since then, the supply and demand of the coin's composition metals have stabilized. A nickel's melt value fell below its face value for several weeks between October and November 2012, and more recently again from late February through April 2013.[113] In February 2014, it was reported that the Mint was conducting experiments to use copper-plated zinc (the same composition used for the United States 1 cent coin) for the nickel.[114]
This Treasury rule will get repealed as soon as enough of the "old nickels" are gone. They just put it in place to bde time until they figure out the solution. However, the solution will have to be something like iron or another really cheap metal. I hear what you are saying Green, but its really a matter of space. I cannot afford to buy SDB full of nickels, so that is where I put gold and silver. However, a few bags of nickels in the basement? Not too bad of a potential downside.