Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Has Debasement of the Nickel Begun?

For over a year now I have been warning that the government, after debasing dollars, dimes, and pennies, would turn its attention to debasing the nickel.   Here is one such article.  Here is where I called for any new debased nickel to be substantially different in appearance from the old nickels so that people can tell them from the phonies.

Today, I found a 2011 Nickel that superficially looks the same as some of those from the previous year, but feels different.   I believe that the Obama administration has already debased the nickel, which until this point was 75% copper and 25% real nickel.  The new one feels like it is made of aluminium or something.  I have looked, and can find no news stories about this.  Compare a new nickel to the old and tell me what you think.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It looks like legislation is required to change composition.

4:42 AM, October 06, 2011  
Blogger Mark Moore (Moderator) said...

Properly yes, but the Obama administration don't need no stinking legislation. The new 2011 quarters feel different. They seem lighter. Next time you get one see if you agree.

5:47 AM, October 06, 2011  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I get one, I'll take it to a jeweler for proper weighing. I just can't see Obama breaking regulations to save the country money...

6:09 AM, October 06, 2011  
Anonymous Andrew said...

The value of a nickel is not in the content of the metal, but in the fact that we all agree that it has value as a part of our monetary system. Changing the metal content has no impact on the value of a nickel, other than your perception and that has no impact on the value of a nickel.

If we were still on the gold standard, then this would be valid, but we're not. Today, money is only worth what everyone collectively agrees that it is worth, changing the content of the metal should have no impact on that value.

7:21 PM, October 18, 2011  

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