The Chronicles Of Grant County
Nickel Street
In Deming And Lordsburg
Despite its name, the nickel coin is mostly composed of copper. (The image was provided courtesy of the United States Mint, 2024.)
Nickel Street in Lordsburg and a roadway with the same name in Deming are both named after the metal.
"Nickel is primarily sold for first use as refined metal (cathode, powder, briquet, etc.) or ferronickel," according to a statement from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). "About 65% of the nickel consumed in the Western World is used to make austenitic stainless steel. Another 12% goes into superalloys…or nonferrous alloys. Both families of alloys are widely used because of their corrosion resistance."
"The aerospace industry is a leading consumer of nickel-base superalloys," the statement from the USGS continued. "Turbine blades, discs, and other critical parts of jet engines are fabricated from superalloys. Nickel-base superalloys are also used in land-based combustion turbines, such [as] those found at electric power generation stations. The remaining 23% of consumption is divided between alloy steels, rechargeable batteries, catalysts and other chemicals, coinage, foundry products, and plating."
Only one large nickel mine operates in the U S.
In 2023, according to the USGS, "…the underground Eagle Mine in Michigan produced approximately 17,000 [metric] tons of nickel in concentrate, which was exported to smelters in Canada and overseas."
Substantially larger quantities of nickel were mined in nations other than the U S during 2022 and 2023, noted this Federal agency.
The USGS reported that countries with large productions of nickel in those two years included Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France (in New Caledonia), Indonesia, the Philippines, and Russia.
The largest amounts of nickel mined in both years were in Indonesia: 1,580,000 metric tons in 2022; 1,800,000 metric tons in 2023. To put the level of Indonesian nickel production into context, the amount mined in this Asian nation in 2023 accounted for half of all nickel mined worldwide in that year.
Many local folks know of "nickel" because of the coin of the same name.
"The nickel's name is unique," noted a statement from the United States Mint. "It's the only U S coin that is called by its metal content – even though the metal alloy in a nickel is only 25 percent nickel. The rest is copper."
There was a period of time, though, when the nickel had no nickel.
"There was a nickelless nickel," the U S Mint detailed in a statement. "During World War II (1942 to 1945), the five-cent coin was made of an alloy of copper, manganese, and silver. Nickel was kept aside for use in the war effort."
In the earlier history of the U S, the five-cent coin was not called a nickel or composed of nickel. The early five-cent coin was called a "half dime" and was made of silver.
According to the U S Mint, half dimes "…weighed exactly half as much as a dime because their values were based on the amount of silver used to make them. The half dime's tiny size (about 16 mm) meant the coin was hard to handle and easy to lose."
The U S Mint decided in the latter half of the 19th century to create a new five-cent coin made of a nickel alloy.
While the new five-cent coin started to circulate in 1866, according to the U S Mint, the existing half dime coin also continued to be minted until 1873. For the intervening years, the U S had two different five-cent pieces – the nickel and the half dime. The U S Mint noted that these coins were "…of different metals, in different sizes, with different designs."
The first nickel coins had a shield on their obverse (front); the design was used until 1883. In that year, a new design – the Liberty head – was used on the obverse of the nickel coin. In 1913, the nickel coin was re-designed again to include the face of a Native American on the obverse and a bison on the reverse.
In 1938, a nickel coin began to circulate with the profile of President Thomas Jefferson on the obverse and Monticello, the historic home of President Jefferson, on the reverse. Different versions of both images have been used on the nickel coin in the years since.
Do you have questions about communities in Grant County?
A street name? A building?
Your questions may be used in a future news column.
Contact Richard McDonough at
If your email does not go through, please contact
© 2025 Richard McDonough
