Schiff says buy nickels

Economist Peter Schiff told his followers on X to buy rolls of nickels from the bank, arguing the metal inside each coin now beats government bonds.

“Buy yours while you can. Much better than Treasuries.”

Worth 55% more than face

Schiff pegs the copper and nickel in a modern five-cent piece at about 7.76 cents, roughly 55% above what the coin spends for.

What's actually in a nickel

The U.S. Mint says each coin weighs 5 grams: 25% nickel, 75% copper. That is 1.25 grams of nickel and 3.75 grams of copper per coin.

He's run this math before

Schiff figured a pre-1982 copper penny held 4.46 cents of metal with copper at $6.85 a pound. Newer zinc pennies came to about 1.07 cents.

Minting costs blew past face value

It cost 13.31 cents to make and ship each nickel in fiscal 2025, the 20th straight year above five cents. Pennies ran 3.02 cents apiece.

Melting them is a felony

Federal law bars melting U.S. nickels for metal. Break it and you face fines up to $10,000 and as much as five years in prison, and few people own a furnace anyway.

“Appreciate this... though melting nickels is illegal for now, so it's a slow hold, not quick profit”

A pile of coins pays nothing

Treasuries pay interest and return face value at maturity. Nickels in a jar earn zero, so the payoff rests on the Mint killing the coin or metal prices climbing.