U.S. nickels really do contain nickel, but probably not as much nickel as you might think. In fact, 75% of a typical U.S. 5-cent coin is actually copper! Only 25% of a nickel actually is made of nickel. Today, 1942-1945 Silver Jefferson War Nickels are desirable for two reasons. First, nickels of this era that are of collectible quality have a numismatic value that can easily reach into the hundreds of dollars per coin. Second, those that are of inferior quality still have a "junk silver coin" value. Nickel silver, Maillechort, German silver, Argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, alpacca, is a copper alloy with nickel and often zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver is named due to its silvery appearance, but it contains no elemental silver unless plated.