I Didn't Know Nickel Was Magnetic

I was out and about the other day doing some Curb Co. stuff. I kept my neodymium magnet in my car door as I do from time to time when my pants pockets get full. When I went to pick up the magnet, it was stuck to something. Yeah, it was stuck to a small sandwich baggie of Canadian nickels that I'd just bought. These were the older (1981 and before) type, which is 99.9% nickel. The newer ones are mostly made of steel, but ALL the nickels in this baggie were the older type.

I'm used to thinking something is steel or iron if it sticks to a magnet. I had no idea that nickel would.

There's an iron-y about using a neodymium magnet to find out that materials beyond steel are ferromagnetic...

Canada, one of the world's largest producers of nickel, gave up making pure nickel nickels several years ago. Lots of steel in there since 2000.

I'm specifically referring to those made 1981 and before that were .999 nickel (with the exception of a few wartime dates and others).

so im sure that means, i & many others have sold hundreds of kgs/lbs of nickel as steel over the years to scrapyards.

whats the price of nickel per lb/kg?

i dont see it listed as somethingthat the yards around me buy...maybe its different in the US.

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$5.26/lb. (USD) for nickel right now. 100 of the .999 Canadian nickels equals 1 lb. Also nickels thrown into a fountain don't deteriorate nearly as fast as pennies. Nickel is a known carcinogen, so wear gloves (especially if your reproductive years are not done).

I am NOT referring to U.S. nickels. Even the old ones were only 25% nickel (the other 75% was copper).