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So I don't know much about Canuckland nickels. Everything I have seen says the pre 82 kind are .999 nickel. But I have a couple that will stick to a magnet. Were steel nickels made for all the dates also? Please help another typical American with some worldly knowledge. Thanks!

pure nickel is magnetic..so hopefully all your pre 82 ones stick..

Cool! you learn something new every day. I thought only metals containing iron were magnetic. Here I am tossing out nickel world coins. Besides pure nickel or steel coins, will any other types of coins stick to a magnet? I see that cupronickel won't.

2000 and newer Canadian Nickels are supposed to be 95% steel (magnetic) except...

I have a few 2000, 2001 and 2006 that are non-magnetic. An overlap into 2000 and 2001 is understandable but what's up with the 2006 non-magnetic nickels? Anybody know if all these non-magnetic nickels are the same composition as the 1982-1989 ones?

Found this in the Nickel Testing thread, pretty much answers my question.

mickeyman wrote:Make sure of your dates. Every .999 nickel I have seen has been magnetic.

If it was cupronickel (1982-1999, most 2000, some 2001, some 2006) they are not magnetic.

As a child I used to win bets that you could pick up a nickel with a magnetic most of the betters thought I was talking about a US nickel " a US nickel does not have the amount of nickel to work. But I would show them with a Canadian nickel I would win the bet.



From the mint site--


1908 to 1919
Composition: 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
Weight (g): 1.167
Diameter (mm): 14.494
Thickness (mm): n/a

1920 to 1921
Composition: 80% silver, 20% copper
Weight (g): 1.167
Diameter (mm): 14.494
Thickness (mm): n/a

1922 to 1942
Composition: 99% nickel
Weight (g): 4.54
Diameter (mm): 21.21
Thickness (mm): 1.7

1942 to 1943
Composition: 88% copper, 12% zinc (tombac)
Weight (g): 4.54
Diameter (mm): 21.21
Thickness (mm): 1.7

1944 to 1945
Composition: chrome plated steel
Weight (g): 4.54
Diameter (mm): 21.21
Thickness (mm): 1.7

1946 to 1951
Composition: 99.9% nickel
Weight (g): 4.54
Diameter (mm): 21.21
Thickness (mm): 1.7

1951 to 1954
Composition: chrome plated steel
Weight (g): 4.54
Diameter (mm): 21.21
Thickness (mm): 1.7

1955 to 1981
Composition: 99.9% nickel
Weight (g): 4.54
Diameter (mm): 21.21
Thickness (mm): 1.7

1982 to 1999
Composition: 75% copper, 25% nickel
Weight (g): 4.6
Diameter (mm): 21.2
Thickness (mm): 1.76

2000 to date
Composition: 94.5% steel, 3.5% copper, 2% nickel plating
Weight (g): 3.95
Diameter (mm): 21.2
Thickness (mm): 1.76

I have no idea what they are. All coins book i have and website say they are made of nickel plated steel after 1999. If they have a "P" below the queen or stick to the magnet they are probably in steel, the mint try several different penny/nickels/dime/quarters between 2000 and 2006, and don't give data about all the different coins they produce, they could be in zinc for all i know. There is a few variety each year for every coin, most of them aren't in book or clearly specified in website.

Many of these variety are collectible sometime because the 'test' coins was a very limited mintage or they have made a blank error and produce coins with a 'P' but it don't stick to a magnet. It's really confusing for everyone.

One thing is almost certain, they probably don't contain any metal/bullion value whatsoever.

Pure nickels .999 stick to a magnet but loose it's magnetic when mixed with copper (CuNi 75%/25%).
Every nickels pre-82 should stick to a magnet.
1982-1999 are CuNi and shouldn't stick to a magnet.
2000-present maybe even the mint doesn't know

From the flap of my Whitman coin folder--

In mid-2006 the use of the P mark was discontinued in favor of a Royal Canadian Mint logo "mint mark." Also in 2006 a quantity of five-cents coins was struck on pre-2002 cupro-nickel (non-magnetic) planchets that bore neither the P nor RCM mintmark

I remember that anything after 1981 without a P or RCM mint mark is cupro-nickel. However I do not remember where I remember that from.

Whenever I have a big lot of mixed foreign coins I pull a magnet over them and pull out the steel junk and the precious .99 Ni.

I think it's at about $11 per pound now.

So I found a canadian nickel thats looks like any other newer nick, but the date on the back is very small and reads 1867-1992. Having trouble finding any info on this coin. Sounds like it is typical 75/25, but was wondering if there is anything else interesting about this coin making it worth keeping separate from my bucket of other circulated canadians.

slvrbck wrote:So I found a canadian nickel thats looks like any other newer nick, but the date on the back is very small and reads 1867-1992. Having trouble finding any info on this coin. Sounds like it is typical 75/25, but was wondering if there is anything else interesting about this coin making it worth keeping separate from my bucket of other circulated canadians.

For price info see---https://www.jandm.com/script/getitem.asp?CID=3&PID=87

Thanks