I wouldn’t worry about the general populace catching on right away. Similar articles have been on the survival websites for at least a year: http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/02/letter_re_stockpiling_nickels.html
Yeah, you are right. I've been telling my relatives to "execute Plan B" [just like I told them about the silver coins in 1965]. No one is listening. I've just seen a few like-minded posters here, but so far, so good. Gotta get down to the bank today. :-)
I have told some people in private about it in the past and it almost doesn’t compute when you tell them.