Having researched this info for one of my current projects, I thought I'd share (in particular I needed an OTC source of nickel).
FYI, nickel carbonate (pottery supply) currently costs around CDN$35/1Kg, containing 494g elemental nickel. Probably for most of us it's the chloride we're interested in, easily prepared by mixing the carbonate with HCl (or elemental with HCl). The cheapest source of nickel-containing currency are nickels from 1955-1981 (1970-1980 nickels are still in wide circulation), so 494g of $0.05 coins would cost you $5.45, interesting, yes? Of course, it's illegal to deface currency in Canada...
$0.01 (penny)
2000-?
2.35g 94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating
1997-1999 2.25g 98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating
1982-1996 2.50g 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1980-1981 2.80g 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1978-1979 3.24g 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1942-1977 3.24g 98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc
1920-1941 3.24g 95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1908-1920 5.67g 95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
$0.05 (nickel)
2000-?
3.95g 94.5% steel, 3.5% copper, 2% nickel plating
1982-1999 4.60g 75% copper, 25% nickel
1955-1981 4.54g 99.9% nickel
1951-1954 4.54g chrome plated steel
1946-1951 4.54g 99.9% nickel
1944-1945 4.54g chrome plated steel
1942-1943 4.54g 88% copper, 12% zinc
1922-1942 4.54g 99% nickel
1920-1921 1.17g 80% silver, 20% copper
1908-1919 1.17g 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
$0.10 (dime)
2000-?
1.75g 92% steel, 5.5% copper, 2.5% nickel plating
1968-1999 2.07g 99.9% nickel
1920-1967 2.33g 80% silver, 20% copper
1910-1919 2.33g 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
1908-1910 2.32g 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
$0.25 (quarter)
2000-?
4.40g 94% steel, 3.8% copper, 2.2% nickel plating
1968-1999 5.05g 99.9% nickel
1967-1968 5.05g 50% silver, 50% copper
1920-1967 5.83g 80% silver, 20% copper
1910-1919 5.83g 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
1908-1910 5.81g 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
$1.00 (loonie, dollar bill discontinued 1987)
1987-?
7.00g 91.5% nickel, 8.5% bronze plating
1968-1986 15.6g 99% nickel
1935-1967 23.3g 80% silver, 20% copper
$2.00 (toonie, two-dollar bill discontinued 1996)
1996-?
7.30g Outer ring: 99% nickel
Center circle: 92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel
That's all folks... hopefully useful to someone besides me.
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