ROCHESTER, N.Y. — If you check your pockets right now, how many nickels would you find? It might sound odd but the U.S. Mint says the number of nickels in production is actually growing.

Roman wrote: “Are there fewer nickels in circulation? I find lately that when I empty my pocket change and roll up my coins to cash in, that it takes longer for me to roll up $2.00 worth of nickels than any other coins. Why is that? Are fewer nickels being minted now?”

The owners of Ridge Coin say there are actually more nickels, not less, being produced now compared to 10 years ago.

Last year, Ridge Coin says the U.S. Mint produced roughly two billion nickels. In 2013, it produced about 1.2 billion nickels. When I checked the U.S. Mint’s website, sure enough, it shows more of the five-cent coins in production now than a decade ago. You can see the U.S. Mint records here.

Doug Musinger from Brighton Token and Coin says that, while the U.S. Mint reports more coins were produced last year than in 2013, that doesn’t necessarily mean they all went into circulation.

Nickels are made of about 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel. Between the intrinsic value and the cost of production, Doug estimates it costs about six to seven cents to make a single nickel.

So why then is Roman having a hard time filling rolls of nickels? It’s hard to say. With more people using credit cards, it’s possible that cashiers have less change in their registers or they’re making change using more pennies and dimes.

If you have a question you’d like answered, send an email at goodquestion@whec.com.

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