Nickel is the third most widely used metal in industry after iron and aluminum; nickel and iron are, in fact, both integral in steelmaking. Nickel’s properties are broadly similar to that of iron too. Both are magnetic, have similar densities and are found everywhere in the world. Nickel, however, has the added benefit of being resistant to corrosion. The only reason it hasn’t edged out stainless steel is cost. At the time of writing a ton of steel cost all of $250 but one of pure nickel around $15,000 - ouch!

That ton divvied up a million times yields one of these little guys and, if you do the math, contains, hmmm [pulls out calculator], $0.015 worth of this metal. Yikes… this is a good premium over spot you’re paying!