You probably have a jar of them. Or maybe they’re just chilling in your cup holder, sticky with spilled soda. We treat nickels pennies and dimes like background noise in our financial lives. They’re the things we hand back to the cashier when we’re "rounding up" for charity. But if you actually look at the metal in your palm, you’re holding a weird mix of history, metallurgy, and a massive government deficit.
Most people think a penny is copper. It’s not. It hasn't been since 1982. If you find a penny from 1943, it’s not even "penny-colored"—it’s steel because the military needed the copper for shell casings during World War II.
Money is weird.
The Penny: A copper-plated identity crisis
The penny is the most hated coin in America. Honestly, it’s understandable. It costs the U.S. Mint roughly 3 cents to make a single cent. We are literally losing money to make money.
Since 1982, the penny has been 97.5% zinc. The "copper" is just a thin skin, like a cheap gold-plated watch from a mall kiosk. If you’ve ever seen a penny that looks bubbly or corroded, that’s because the zinc core is reacting to the environment after the copper plating got scratched. Zinc is reactive. Copper is stable. This is why old wheat pennies (pre-1959) or the Memorial pennies from the 60s and 70s still look relatively "clean" compared to a crusty zinc penny from 1998.
There’s a persistent myth that you can get rich off copper pennies. People hoard the ones dated 1982 and earlier. Technically, the metal in an old copper penny is worth about 2 to 3 cents. But here’s the kicker: it’s illegal to melt them down. The Treasury Department saw people eyeing their melting pots and passed a regulation in 2006 to stop it. So, unless you’re planning on a very specific, very illegal metal-smelting heist, that jar of copper pennies is just a heavy paperweight.
Then there is the 1943 steel penny. People find them in old basements and think they’ve hit the jackpot. Most are worth about 20 cents. They were made of steel and coated in zinc because copper was a strategic war metal. They were a disaster. Vending machines thought they were slugs, and they rusted almost immediately because zinc and steel don't get along in humid pockets.
Nickels: The heavy lifters of the coin jar
The nickel is the tank of the American pocket. It’s thick. It’s heavy. It’s also the only coin that still mostly sticks to its original name, even though it’s actually 75% copper and only 25% nickel.
👉 See also: The Gospel of Matthew: What Most People Get Wrong About the First Book of the New Testament
Wait.
Think about that for a second. The nickel contains more copper than the penny does. Because a nickel is so much larger and heavier (exactly 5 grams), the "melt value" of a nickel often hovers right around 5 cents. Sometimes it's more. During spikes in the commodities market, a nickel can be worth 6 or 7 cents in raw metal.
The U.S. Mint hates this.
The transition of Thomas Jefferson
We’ve had Jefferson on the nickel since 1938. Before that, it was the Buffalo Nickel, which is arguably the most beautiful coin the U.S. ever minted. If you find a Buffalo nickel today, check the date. If the date is worn off—which happens a lot because the date was placed on a raised part of the design—it’s only worth about 25 cents. But if the date is clear, especially from the early 1920s, you might be looking at something worth $10 to $50.
In 2004 and 2005, the Mint went through a "Westward Journey" phase. We got the keelboat, the bison, and the "Ocean in View" designs. They even changed Jefferson’s face. He used to be in profile, looking left. Now, he’s looking straight at you. It’s a bit jarring if you grew up with the old style, but it was the first time a U.S. president faced forward on a circulating coin.
Dimes: Tiny, silver, and misunderstood
The dime is the smallest and thinnest coin, yet it’s worth more than the nickel and the penny combined. This confuses kids, but there’s a historical reason. Back when coins were actually made of silver, the size was determined by the value of the metal. A dime had one-tenth the silver of a silver dollar. It had to be tiny.
Even though we stopped using silver in 1965, we kept the size.
✨ Don't miss: God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise: The True Story Behind the Phrase Most People Get Wrong
If you have a dime dated 1964 or earlier, stop. Don’t spend it. That coin is 90% silver. As of early 2024, the silver in a single pre-1965 dime is worth roughly $1.70 to $2.00 depending on the daily market. That’s a 2,000% return on investment just for looking at a date.
Roosevelt and the March of Dimes
Franklin D. Roosevelt is on the dime for a very specific reason. He founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which we now call the March of Dimes. After he died in 1945, the country wanted to honor him. Since he had asked Americans to send their "dimes" to help find a cure for polio, putting him on the 10-cent piece was the perfect tribute.
Before Roosevelt, we had the "Mercury" dime. Fun fact: it’s not actually Mercury. The figure on the coin is Lady Liberty wearing a winged cap (a Phrygian cap) to symbolize freedom of thought. But people saw the wings and thought of the Roman messenger god. The name stuck. If you find a Mercury dime in your change, you’ve just found a piece of 90% silver history.
Why nickels pennies and dimes are becoming "smart" collectibles
Collecting coins used to be for old men in dusty shops. Now? It’s a scavenger hunt for the digital age. People are "coin roll hunting"—buying $25 boxes of pennies or $100 boxes of nickels from the bank and sorting through them for errors.
Errors are where the real money is.
The U.S. Mint makes billions of coins. Sometimes, the machines mess up. You might find a "doubled die" penny where the lettering looks like it has a shadow. Or a "clipped planchet" where the coin looks like a bite was taken out of it.
- 1955 Doubled Die Penny: You can see the doubling with the naked eye. It looks like the date was printed twice. This can be worth over $1,000 even in rough shape.
- 1992 "Close AM" Penny: On the back, the A and M in "AMERICA" are almost touching. On a normal 1992 penny, they have a wide gap. This mistake is worth thousands.
- 2004-D Wisconsin State Quarter: Okay, it's not a nickel or dime, but it's the most famous modern error. Look for an extra leaf on the corn husk.
The cost of keeping change alive
There is a massive debate in Washington about killing the penny. Canada did it in 2013. Australia did it years ago. When you kill the penny, you round transactions to the nearest 5 cents.
🔗 Read more: Kiko Japanese Restaurant Plantation: Why This Local Spot Still Wins the Sushi Game
If you buy something for $1.02, you pay $1.00.
If it’s $1.03, you pay $1.05.
It balances out. But the U.S. is sentimental. We like Lincoln. We like the "tradition" of the penny, even if it costs us millions in tax dollars every year to produce a coin that people literally throw in the trash.
The nickel isn't far behind. With the price of copper and nickel rising, the 5-cent piece is also becoming a liability. We’re reaching a point where the physical metal in our pockets is worth more as a raw material than as a currency. That’s called a "base metal crossover," and it usually signals that a coin's days are numbered.
How to handle your change like a pro
Don’t just dump your change into a Coinstar machine. Those machines usually take an 11% or 12% cut. That’s a massive fee for the "convenience" of not counting your own money.
Instead, do this:
- The 1964 Rule: Check every dime and quarter. If it’s 1964 or older, it’s silver. Put it in a separate jar. That is your "emergency" silver fund.
- The 1982 Penny Split: If you’re bored, separate pennies by year. 1982 is the transition year (some are copper, some are zinc). Anything 1981 or earlier is solid copper.
- Look for the "W": In 2019 and 2020, the West Point Mint (usually known for gold and silver bullion) minted a small number of quarters with a "W" mint mark. They just released them into general circulation to get people interested in coins again. They are worth $10 to $20 immediately.
- Use a Credit Union: Most credit unions have a coin counting machine that is free for members. Use it. Keep 100% of your money.
The world is going cashless, sure. You use Apple Pay or a tap-to-pay card. But nickels pennies and dimes are still circulating by the billions. They represent a tangible link to a time when money was "real"—meaning it was made of something with intrinsic value.
Next time you get change back, take five seconds. Look at the dates. Look at the edges. You might be holding a piece of silver that someone accidentally spent at a gas station, or a 1943 steel penny that survived a war just to end up in your pocket.
Keep your eyes open for the 1964 dimes and the 1942-1945 "war nickels" (which contain 35% silver and have a large "P", "D", or "S" above Monticello). These small victories against inflation are hiding in plain sight. Take your loose change to a local coin shop or use a free coin counter at a credit union to maximize your returns without losing a percentage to a grocery store kiosk.