US Nickels

[EE_]

With nickels melt at almost .09 cents right now, would it be a good time to go to your bank and buy boxes of nickels?
Between EV's needing so much nickel and Russia/China controlling so much of the mined nickel, will nickels be good for barter soon?
Are 2021/2022 nickels still 75% copper 25% nickel?

Nickel’s price surge could threaten automakers’ ambitious electric-vehicle plans
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/nickel-price-surge-could-threaten-automakers-ev-plans.html

[midnight rambler]

US nickels have been steel since at least 2014.

https://coincollectingenterprises.com/nickels/nickels-composition-change-steel-nickels/

[keehah]

Poor underappreciated Copper.

Searched the site for 'copper'. Of the ten pages of search results I checked only two threads had copper in title. One was about trannies and the other about what to do with mixed waste buckets of copper, gravel and dirt.

miningweekly.com: Copper soars to record as metals surge on Russia supply fears (https://www.miningweekly.com/article/copper-soars-to-record-as-metals-surge-on-russia-supply-fears-2022-03-07/rep_id:3650)

7TH MARCH 2022 BY: BLOOMBERG
Metals are breaking new records with copper spiking to an all-time high and nickel surging more than 16%, as soaring energy prices and fears of supply shocks rattled commodities markets amid war in Ukraine.

The White House said it’s talking to allies about a possible oil embargo on Russia, triggering a spike in oil prices and ratcheting up geopolitical risks after its attack on its smaller neighbor. Higher energy prices mean steeper costs for manufacturers including metals smelters, adding to supply threats as commodity traders grapple with sanctions on Moscow.

Copper, used in power cables and wiring, rallied as much as 1.5% to $10 835 a ton [~ $5 a pound], on the London Metal Exchange, beating the previous record high from May last year. Russia is an important producer of copper, and its exports account for some 3.3% of global output, according to JPMorgan & Chase Co.

Aluminum also hit a fresh all-time high with prices hitting $4 000, while nickel surged over $33 000 a ton and palladium soared to a record.

[EE_]

I can't find any info where nickels were made of steel since 2014.

Look here:
Increase in metal values
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, a Canadian nickel (which is primarily made of steel) still costs less than its face value to produce as of 2019.[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 (CMOCA),[109] 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.[110] The report in response to the legislation declared that there is no material that would reduce the one-cent coin's manufacturing cost to below one cent, so it was removed from consideration. The report requested additional time to study the issue, ensuring the continuation, for the present, of the existing coinage metals.[111] The Mint expected demand for nickels in commerce to increase from 840 million needed in Fiscal Year 2011 to 1.08 billion in 2015.[112]

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.[113][110] The melt value of a nickel for some time was more than five cents, including nearing over one-and-a-half times 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 from late 2008 through mid-2010, and more recently again from late mid-2012 .[114] 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.[115]

In December 2014, the Mint released its next Biennial report in response to the CMOCA. In it, the Mint declared that plated zinc products did not hold up to steam/wear tests and were rejected for U.S. coins other than the penny. Materials considered "feasible" for the 5-cent coin were nickel-plated steel, multi-ply-plated steel, and potentially another copper/nickel alloy, this time with ~77% copper, ~20% nickel, and ~3% manganese. Further testing was recommended to explore even less expensive alloys that would not require changes to vending machines (as the steel-based materials would require).[116] Based on current metal prices as of April 12, 2021 the current price of a 5 cent coin is $0.0538. In March 2022, to the ongoing Russia/Ukraine War, Nickel prices have soared.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin)

[midnight rambler]

There's no valuation for 2015 and later US nickels on www.coinflation.com (http://www.coinflation.com) in fact 2015 and later nickels are not even listed at all (note there are no 2015 or later US coins on coinflation). As I recall around 2009 the metal value of a nickel was $0.09, I'm sure that troubled them and they 'fixed' it. Just checked a 2016 nickel with a rare earth magnet, no attraction.

[woodman]

There's no valuation for 2015 and later US nickels on www.coinflation.com (http://www.coinflation.com) in fact 2015 and later nickels are not even listed at all (note there are no 2015 or later US coins on coinflation). As I recall around 2009 the metal value of a nickel was $0.09, I'm sure that troubled them and they 'fixed' it. Just checked a 2016 nickel with a rare earth magnet, no attraction.
I am seeing mostly claims that the nickel is still the same cupronickel composition it always has been. There is an article from 2012 here: Nickels Composition Change to Steel Nickels (coincollectingenterprises.com) (https://coincollectingenterprises.com/nickels/nickels-composition-change-steel-nickels/) that claims it would soon be steel but it does not seem to have happened. I think it would have been huge news.

[EE_]

There's no valuation for 2015 and later US nickels on www.coinflation.com (http://www.coinflation.com) in fact 2015 and later nickels are not even listed at all (note there are no 2015 or later US coins on coinflation). As I recall around 2009 the metal value of a nickel was $0.09, I'm sure that troubled them and they 'fixed' it. Just checked a 2016 nickel with a rare earth magnet, no attraction.

Maybe they just told a lie hoping people would stop hoarding them. Looks like they are same dimension and same weight.

[EE_]

I have $300 of rolled quarters laying around. I'm going to call the bank tomorrow to see if they have 3 - $100 boxes of nickels I can trade the quarters for.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCEL59wKnK4

[keehah]

msn.com: UK FCA and Bank of England working with LME to resume nickel trading (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/uk-fca-and-bank-of-england-working-with-lme-to-resume-nickel-trading/ar-AAV2CRN?ocid=BingNewsSearch)

24 mins ago
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England are talking to the London Metal Exchange about the resumption of a fair and orderly market in nickel, the FCA said on Monday in response to a request for comment.

The LME was forced to halt nickel trading and cancel trades after prices doubled on Tuesday, March 8 to more than $100,000 per tonne in a surge sources blamed on short covering by one of the world's top producers.

"As a regulated investment exchange, the LME is responsible for the maintenance of fair and orderly markets," the FCA said.

"This may include taking steps such as a temporary suspension of trading at times of extreme price volatility."

The LME also deferred physical delivery of maturing contracts and announced it would temporarily stop publishing official and closing nickel prices.

Interesting how JPM, the industry standard for paper metals shorting, knows when be long.

bnnbloomberg.ca: JPMorgan Is the Biggest Counterparty for Nickel Tycoon’s Short Bets (https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/jpmorgan-is-the-biggest-counterparty-for-nickel-tycoon-s-short-bets-1.1736403)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the largest counterparty to the nickel trades of the Chinese tycoon caught in an unprecedented short squeeze, putting the bank at the center of one of the most dramatic moments in metals market history. About 50,000 tons of Xiang Guangda’s total nickel short position of over 150,000 tons is held through an over-the-counter position with JPMorgan, according to people familiar with the matter. Based on that figure, the tycoon’s company, Tsingshan Holding Group Co., would have owed JPMorgan about $1 billion in margin on Monday.

Some earlier news:
nypost.com: JPMorgan set to pay $1 billion fine for metals market manipulation (https://nypost.com/2020/09/23/jpmorgan-set-to-pay-1-billion-fine-for-metals-market-manipulation/)

September 23, 2020
JPMorgan is reportedly set to pay nearly $1 billion to settle a government probe into allegedly illegal fake trades.

News of the inquiries broke in September 2019 when three JPMorgan traders were charged by the DOJ for allegedly running an eight-year conspiracy that involved placing thousands of fraudulent orders on precious metals in order to confuse the market and force rival traders to act accordingly. The tactic, known as “spoofing,” can be effective and was made illegal after the 2008 crisis.

The three bankers, Michael Nowak, who was once head of JPMorgan’s global precious metals, Gregg Smith and Christopher Jordan, are facing a federal RICO charge.

If JPMorgan does end up paying the fine, it would be the largest in history for “spoofing.”

yahoo.com: JPMorgan to pay $60 million to settle precious metals spoofing lawsuit (https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-pay-60-million-settle-235609464.html)

November 19, 2021
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed to pay $60 million to settle class-action litigation by investors who accused the largest U.S. bank of intentionally manipulating prices of precious metals futures and options.

The settlement disclosed on Friday stemmed from sprawling U.S. government investigations into a form of illegal trading in precious metals and U.S. Treasury markets, known as spoofing.

JPMorgan did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement, which covers traders in precious metals futures and options from March 2008 to August 2016 and requires approval by a federal judge in Manhattan.

Lawyers for the investors called the accord "substantively fair," citing among other reasons the risks of continued litigation.

The payout would recover about 7% of the estimated $915 million of classwide damages, the lawyers added.

JPMorgan declined to comment.

Spoofing is where traders place orders they intend to cancel, hoping to move prices to benefit their market positions.

In Sept. 2020, JPMorgan entered a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay $920 million, including a $436 million criminal fine, to settle U.S. government probes into spoofing in precious metals and Treasuries.

The New York-based bank in September reached a $15.7 million settlement with investors over Treasury spoofing.

Lawyers for the precious metals investors plan to seek up to one-third of their settlement, or $20 million, to cover legal fees.