Most of us think of nickel as the well-known United States five cent piece. Actually, this coin is really 75% copper and only 25% nickel. This alloy is ideal for coinage, since it is essentially noncorrosive and hard enough to resist wear in handling. But that is only a minor use for this remarkable metal. By the way, the U.S. five cent piece is not the first U.S. coin to be called that. More on that later.
You handle nickel every day much more than you know. It is present in many things that we use all of time, but it is rarely recognized. Please come with me on an examination of a truly wonderful and useful material.