We have posted previously on the subject of saving nickels. This search link will give you more on this site if you want it.
by David Hathaway
You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot when obtaining nickels; not to mention your fellow hard-money brethren who are doing the same thing. Don’t go into a bank and make a grandiose gesture by asking to speak to the branch manager and discussing the bulk acquisition of $1000 or $10,000 worth of nickels. I have read articles where people proudly describe the incredulous looks they get from the bank employees and the follow-up questions administered by the bank staff from such an action. These articles usually include a description of how they schooled the bank employees about how the customer was hoarding nickels as a hedge against inflation. Don’t have this conversation with the bank. You don’t want to be the source of new bank policy restricting the acquisition of coinage. Some banks may charge a percentage for obtaining coins but, most still don’t. With nickels it is still so easy.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Are you doing due diligence with
nickels? As many LRC readers know, nickels are the only real "money"
being distributed by the U.S. Government at this point in time. The
value of the metal in a nickel equals the
fiat value assigned to it by the state.
This cannot be said about the currently produced pennies, dimes, quarters, or half dollars and certainly cannot be said about the paper money or the even more insidious and plentiful computer digit money that we are forced to use. Nickels are uniformly marked, impractical to counterfeit, and easily recognizable for their metallic content (75% copper, 25% nickel).
This cannot be said about the currently produced pennies, dimes, quarters, or half dollars and certainly cannot be said about the paper money or the even more insidious and plentiful computer digit money that we are forced to use. Nickels are uniformly marked, impractical to counterfeit, and easily recognizable for their metallic content (75% copper, 25% nickel).
So, is it really that easy to get
real money in exchange for the worthless stuff floating around? Yes, it
still is. You walk into a bank, hand the teller a 20-dollar bill, and
walk out with 10 rolls of nickels. There is no dealer markup. There is
no sales tax. There are no shipping fees. There is no capital gains tax
or value added tax. It almost seems impossible in this day and age. It
soon will be impossible. We are temporarily in an era with nickels that
is analogous to the pre-1965 silver coinage period. Coin composition is
slated to change during
the 2013 fiscal year. So, what are the issues that would preclude a
person from taking advantage of the inevitable increase in the value of
nickels when compared to the fiat dollar? Well, there is one small issue
and one slightly bigger issue. The small issue is obtaining the nickels
and the bigger issue is storage. Both issues can be resolved fairly
easily for most people. First, let’s look at the smaller issue.
You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot when obtaining nickels; not to mention your fellow hard-money brethren who are doing the same thing. Don’t go into a bank and make a grandiose gesture by asking to speak to the branch manager and discussing the bulk acquisition of $1000 or $10,000 worth of nickels. I have read articles where people proudly describe the incredulous looks they get from the bank employees and the follow-up questions administered by the bank staff from such an action. These articles usually include a description of how they schooled the bank employees about how the customer was hoarding nickels as a hedge against inflation. Don’t have this conversation with the bank. You don’t want to be the source of new bank policy restricting the acquisition of coinage. Some banks may charge a percentage for obtaining coins but, most still don’t. With nickels it is still so easy.
You need to have a systematic outlook. What you do is always lay
down a 20 dollar bill and ask for 20 dollars in nickels. No more.
That’s all. Make this fit into your lunch break at work, your commute,
your exercise routine, or your shopping routine. You can go to one, two,
or three banks fairly quickly. Don’t get the coins using your debit
card or a check. Keep it to a simple hand-to-hand cash transaction. You
don’t want multiple computer entries showing up on your bank account at
different bank branches 10 minutes apart. It looks like you are doing
something. Banks look for patterns and they will ask more questions. You
aren’t doing anything wrong but, once again, you don’t want to make
waves. You want to be able to continue getting your nickels. Giving out
$20 in coins is no big deal to a major bank but, retailers that get
coinage regularly usually do have to pay extra for the privilege. Small
account holders and even non-account holders are usually given "small"
amounts of pre-rolled coinage in exchange for paper currency as a
courtesy at no charge. You want to be in the small customer "courtesy"
realm on this issue. Being in a slightly bigger town is a plus but, not
essential. If you happen to be on a lengthier shopping trip or road
trip, you can get $20 worth of nickels ten times fairly quickly at ten
different banks. Remember, you don’t want to be responsible for the
issuance of new restrictive policies within your local banking world.
Banks talk to each other. They go to conferences. If only a few guys in a
town of a million people are trying to get large quantities of nickels
on each transaction, the word will get out and policies will change.
You won’t believe how quickly you
acquire nickels at this rate. You quickly get in and out of the bank
since you are not doing account-related transactions. You get 400
nickels each time you hand over a 20-dollar bill. The transaction
usually takes less than a minute. If you do this twice every day on your
lunch break, you will have nickels coming out of your ears. Don’t try
to do it at a quicker rate. You will end up causing problems.
The second issue, which is really
the point of this article, is the storage of your nickels. One of the
first rules for obtaining and storing metal as a hedge against inflation
is to take possession of the metal yourself and to not trust someone
else to store it for you. A warehouse receipt can be next to worthless
in a hyperinflationary environment and is subject to the same type of
mishandling that has been seen in metal futures, ETFs, and other paper
forms of metal. Nickels do present a challenge for storage but, the
challenge is not insurmountable.
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