What are nickels made of now?
Nickels in the United States are made of an alloy of 75% copper
and 25% nickel. That alloy has been used in all nickels made since
the coin was introduced in 1866, except for the famous "war
nickels" minted during WWII. Due to metal shortages those special
coins were made of an alloy of copper, silver, and manganese.
Due to the changing value of the metals used, nickels currently
cost more to make than their face value. There have been
discussions regarding changing the composition of the nickel to a
more affordable alloy.
Since 2000, most Canadian nickels have been made of a core of
94.5% steel and 3.5% copper, plated with 2% nickel. Before that,
Canadian nickels have been made of a number of different alloys
including 99.9% nickel, tombac (a copper/zinc alloy), the same
composition as US nickels, and chrome-plated steel.