APMEX has  good prices on war-times nickels at the moment. These nickels, minted in the years 1942-1945 contain 35% silver. Each $1 face value (20 nickels) has approx 1.125oz. of silver, a $2 roll contains 2.25oz. of silver. At the current spot price of around 19.81 the silver value of a roll of war-time nickels is 44.57. Refiners and smelters usually give quite a bit less than spot for these nickels due to the processes required to refine. Due to this when buying one should pay less than spot. AMPEX price is currently 40.20 a roll, about 10% less than spot.