[PeatownPaul]

Ok, I’ve worked the math out based on the latest spot prices for copper and nickel and the US Mint’s formulation for nickels at 25% nickel and 75% copper. I cleaned out my change drawer and weighed 35 nickels on a kitchen scale. The results:

35 nickels weighed 6.1 oz or 0.0109 lb

Scrap Copper at $4.5666 per lb
Scrap nickel at $12.7896 per lb

$4.5666 * 0.0109 * 75% = 3.73 cents copper
$12.7896 * 0.0109 * 25% = 3.49 cents nickel
= about 7.2 cents total per coin

[Ancesthntr]

“Ok, I’ve worked the math out based on the latest spot prices for copper and nickel and the US Mint’s formulation for nickels at 25% nickel and 75% copper. I cleaned out my change drawer and weighed 35 nickels on a kitchen scale. The results:

35 nickels weighed 6.1 oz or 0.0109 lb

Scrap Copper at $4.5666 per lb
Scrap nickel at $12.7896 per lb

$4.5666 * 0.0109 * 75% = 3.73 cents copper
$12.7896 * 0.0109 * 25% = 3.49 cents nickel
= about 7.2 cents total per coin”

Its easier to use a website dedicated to just this purpose: http://www.coinflation.com/coins/basemetal_coin_calculator.html

[dervish]

There is a problem with your analysis. It presumes that nickel and copper weigh the same.