Nickel Melt Value Calculator

Nickel melt value is calculated by converting the weight of your nickel to pounds and multiplying by the current nickel price per pound. Like copper, nickel is priced per pound in the US scrap market, not per troy ounce like precious metals.

Worked example: Take a standard roll of 40 Jefferson nickels. Each coin weighs 5.00 grams and is 25% nickel (75% copper). That gives you 40 × 5.00g = 200g total weight. The pure nickel content is 200g × 0.25 = 50g. Convert to pounds: 50 ÷ 453.592 = 0.1102 lb. At today's nickel price of $7.79 per pound, the nickel content alone is worth $0.86. The roll also contains 150g of copper, worth an additional $1.87 at current copper prices.

US Nickel Coin Compositions

The five-cent piece has been struck in the same 75% copper / 25% nickel alloy since the Shield nickel debuted in 1866. This cupronickel composition carried through the Liberty Head (V) nickel (1883–1913), the Buffalo nickel (1913–1938), and the Jefferson nickel (1938–present). Every standard nickel weighs 5.00 grams and contains exactly 1.25 grams of pure nickel and 3.75 grams of copper.

The sole exception is the war nickel (1942–1945). When the United States entered World War II, nickel became a critical strategic material needed for armor plating and other military applications. The Mint switched to an emergency alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese — completely eliminating nickel from the coin. War nickels are easily identified by the large mint mark (P, D, or S) placed above Monticello on the reverse, a feature not found on any other Jefferson nickel series.

War nickels contain 1.75 grams of silver each. At a silver spot price of $74.14 per troy ounce, each war nickel has a silver melt value of $4.1714. This makes them significantly more valuable than their 5-cent face value, and they are commonly collected and sold alongside junk silver coins.

Nickel vs Face Value

Unlike pre-1982 copper pennies — where melt value routinely exceeds face value — modern Jefferson nickels have a melt value that fluctuates around their 5-cent face value. The total metal value of a nickel (combining both the nickel and copper content) depends on both metal prices. When nickel prices spike, the melt value can exceed face value, making them theoretically worth hoarding. However, melting nickels is prohibited under the same 2006 regulation that covers pennies (31 CFR 82.1).

Currently, a Jefferson nickel's total metal value is approximately $0.0681, which is 136.2% of its 5-cent face value. When this number exceeds 100%, it creates an interesting economic situation — though the practical reality of profiting from nickel hoarding requires dealing with enormous quantities of heavy coins.

What Dealers Pay for Nickel Coins

Unlike silver coins that trade at a clear premium to face value, base metal nickels only command premiums when nickel prices are high enough to push melt value above face value. Most dealers and scrap yards will not buy nickels for melt unless you have very large quantities — multiple boxes (each box contains $100 face value, or 2,000 coins weighing 22 pounds). The economics of sorting, shipping, and processing heavy base metal coins means margins are extremely thin. War nickels are the exception: because of their silver content, they trade alongside other junk silver coins at a consistent premium over face value.

For silver coin values including war nickels, see US silver coin melt values. For copper penny melt values, visit our copper melt value calculator. Or return to the melt value calculator homepage.