Free Republic

Metal 'Snakes' Fall Far Short of Life by Brian Thomas, M.S.* Researchers at Argonne National Laboratories have observed nickel filings ordering into rows atop a special fluid. With precisely structured electromagnetic fields surrounding them, the snake-like rows undulated in their beakers. The magnetically-motivated metal’s meanderings appeared so lifelike that Wired Science writer Alexis Madrigal suggested the tiny nickel trains can provide “clues about how life originally organized itself.”...

Rapid changes in the churning movement of Earth's liquid outer core are weakening the magnetic field in some regions of the planet's surface, a new study says. "What is so surprising is that rapid, almost sudden, changes take place in the Earth's magnetic field," said study co-author Nils Olsen, a geophysicist at the Danish National Space Center in Copenhagen. The findings suggest similarly quick changes are simultaneously occurring in the liquid metal, 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) below the surface, he said. The swirling flow of molten iron and nickel around Earth's solid center triggers an electrical current, which generates the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Further evidence that times are tough: It now costs more than a penny to make a penny. And the cost of a nickel is more than 7 1/2 cents. Surging prices for copper, zinc and nickel have some in Congress trying to bring back the steel-made pennies of World War II, and maybe using steel for nickels, as well. Copper and nickel prices have tripled since 2003 and the price of zinc has quadrupled, said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose subcommittee oversees the U.S. Mint. Keeping the coin content means "contributing to our national debt by almost...

Talk about pennies from heaven. A potential shortage of coins in the United States could mean all those pennies in your piggy bank could be worth five times their current value soon, says an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Sharply rising prices of metals such as copper and nickel have meant the face value of pennies and nickels are worth less than the material that they are made of, increasing the risk that speculators could melt the coins and sell them for a profit. Such a risk spurred the U.S. Mint last month to issue regulations limiting...

Nickel prices took a severe beating in late trade at the London Metal Exchange on Monday, falling over $1,000 from Friday's kerb close. Three-months futures ended Monday's kerb at $27,600 per tonne, down $1,100, or 3.8 percent. Once selling began, the metal slipped into free-fall, traders said. "It was around $28,500, then on the next trade -- which was half an hour later -- it had gone down $300, then another $300." Volumes were tiny and support practically non-existent."It was trading one lot, then two lots, then one. There was a void underneath it," the trader said. Sellers may have...

NEW YORK/TORONTO (Reuters) - Phelps Dodge Corp. <PD.N> on Monday said it would acquire Canada's Inco Ltd. <N.TO> and Falconbridge Ltd. for about $40 billion in a blockbuster deal to create the world's largest nickel miner and second-largest copper producer. Phelps Dodge said it would buy Inco for C$80.13 per share in cash and stock. Inco, which already agreed to buy Falconbridge, in turn raised its existing offer for Falconbridge to an implied value of C$62.11 per share. Phelps Dodge presented the terms in Canadian currency and the deal value in U.S. dollars. The deal had an immediate impact on...

'In God We Trust' goes missing School plays it safe with yearbook cover photo 08:37 AM CDT on Saturday, May 20, 2006 WFAA-TV The freedom of religion at Liberty Elementary School has gone too far for some parents at the Colleyville school. The cover of the Keller ISD school's annual depicts the 2005 Liberty Nickel – complete with the face of Thomas Jefferson – but the words "In God We Trust" are missing. Instead, the $16 yearbook contains a sticker with the credo and directions on how to apply it to the cover if the owner chooses.

Historic Nickel with Forward-Facing Jefferson Heads into Circulation WASHINGTON – Pouring hundreds of shiny, new 2006 nickels from a silver goblet designed by President Thomas Jefferson, officials at the United States Mint launched into circulation today the Nation’s first circulating coin that features the image of a United States President facing forward. The Nation’s coinage has depicted profiles of presidents for nearly a century. This new image of President Thomas Jefferson is based on a Rembrandt Peale portrait of Jefferson, painted in 1800. The United States Mint expects to ship approximately a billion of the new five-cent coins (nickels) to...

A First for the United States: Jefferson to Face Forward on 2006 Nickel WASHINGTON – The Nation’s circulating coins have featured the profiles of presidents for nearly a century. The United States Mint is announcing that for the first time in history, the image of President Thomas Jefferson will face forward on the 2006-dated 5-cent coin (nickel). This new image, based on a Rembrandt Peale painting of Jefferson in 1800, is expected to grace the nickel for years to come. The United States Mint will launch into circulation the 2006 nickel, called “Jefferson, 1800,” early next year, concluding the Westward...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 5) - After nearly 100 years of depicting presidents in somber profiles on the nation's coins, the Mint is trying something different: The new nickel features Thomas Jefferson, facing forward, with the hint of a smile. "It isn't a silly smile or a smirk, but a sense of optimism that I was trying to convey with the expression," says Jamie Franki, an associate professor of art at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. His drawing was chosen out of 147 entries. In unveiling the design Tuesday, Mint officials said they believed the new image of Jefferson was an appropriate...

EARTH'S natural radioactivity has been measured for the first time. The measurement will help geologists find out to what extent nuclear decay is responsible for the immense quantity of heat generated by Earth. Our planet's heat output drives the convection currents that churn liquid iron in the outer core, giving rise to Earth's magnetic field. Just where this heat comes from is a big question. Measurements of the temperature gradients across rocks in mines and boreholes have led geologists to estimate that the planet is internally generating between 30 and 44 terawatts of heat. Some of this heat comes from...

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Not many people can retire on a nickel - unless it's a rare 1913 Liberty Head like the one that sold Thursday for $4.15 million. It is the second-highest price ever reported paid for a rare coin. Legend Numismatics, a coin dealership in Lincroft, N.J., bought it from collector Ed Lee of Merrimack, N.H. It is one of only five such nickels known to exist. "Owning a 1913 Liberty Head nickel is unlike owning any other coin in the world," said Laura Sperber, co-president of Legend Numismatics. She called the 1913 Liberty Head the most famous...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON (AP) -- With 2,000-pound Cody the bison standing as a silent witness, the U.S. Mint marked the return of the buffalo nickel Tuesday after a 67-year absence. Accompanied by Indian dancing, drum-beating and chanting, U.S. Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore displayed the new nickels publicly for the first time during a ceremony on the snowy grounds of Capitol Hill with Cody standing patiently next to her, occasionally snorting in the cold air. Some 97 million of the five-cent coins are being shipped this week from the Federal Reserve's 12 regional...

WASHINGTON - There's change in store for Thomas Jefferson — on the nickel that is. He's getting his first makeover since his likeness was put on the coin in 1938. The makers of the nation's coins, the U.S. Mint, was unveiling Thursday designs for two new nickels. It's the latest in a series of design changes for the coins to honor two important events in U.S. history: the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The revamped nickels will be issued in 2005. A new likeness of Jefferson, the third president, will be on the front of the two...

Woman Gets Notice for Owing a Nickel Associated Press July 15, 2004, 7:03 PM EDT EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. -- When the Washington state Department of Employment Security notified Sandi Bryan that she owed money for an unemployment compensation overpayment more than six years ago, she picked up the phone. Little good that did -- until word that she was being threatened with court action over a nickel reached the right ears. Bryan told The Wenatchee World she asked the state employee who took her call on a toll-free line whether she should mail in a nickel taped to a piece...

NEW ORLEANS - A 1913 Liberty Head nickel that was minted under mysterious circumstances, owned by royalty and celebrated in an episode of TV's "Hawaii Five-O" was sold Thursday for $3 million. "Many argue this is the most important coin in our history," said Bruce L. Smith of Blanchard and Co., which brokered the sale. "I think it's the most beautiful." Neither the buyer, described as both a collector and investor, nor the seller was identified. At least two other coins have sold for more, both at auction. In 1999, an 1804 silver dollar sold for $4.14 million. Two years...

The largest nickel producer in the world, Russian company Norilsk Nickel, announced first-quarter profit increased on 82 percent under Russian accounting standards as metals prices rised to record high. Net income rose to $600 million from $330 million a year earlier, according to company’s spokeswoman. "In subsequent quarters their earnings should be a little bit lower," said Scott Semet, an analyst at MDM Bank. Market prices for nickel and other metals fell last month as buyers turned to cheaper substitutes and investors speculated that demand may slow in China. Nickel reached a 14-year high, platinum a 24-year peak and palladium...

#315 - Move Over, Gold... The Investment U E-Letter Friday, February 27, 2004 * * * * * * * Move Over, Gold... Here's why it might be time to start burying pennies and nickels in your back yard, too... By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud President, Investment U You need to make some room next to the gold buried in your backyard... Room for pennies and nickels... I'm only half joking. Starting this year, pennies and nickels may be worth more for their metal content than for their purchasing power. It's true... The U.S. dollar has been crashing in value in...

<p>YORK (CNN/Money) - In April of this year, the U.S. Mint announced that it would redesign the five-cent coin, with a new nickel to be released in 2004. Today, the Mint unveiled designs for not one new nickel, but two.</p>

(WASHINGTON) -- After 65 years, the American nickel is getting its first makeover. But you'll have to flip it over to see a difference. Thomas Jefferson's face will still be on the front. But the back will be different. Instead of Jefferson's home, Monticello, it will depict scenes from the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis-and-Clark expedition to commemorate their bicentennials. Jefferson arranged the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States. He also was the force behind the expedition by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Pacific coast and back. The U.S. Mint, which makes the nation's...