Silver Wartime Nickels - always below spot?
 

Hi All,
First time post (though have been reading a while) and I'm just starting to get into purchasing PMs. I have mostly purchased 90% junk but have also started to buy silver nickels. In doing so, I've noticed that they're almost always below spot (at least on eBay) in terms of their silver content- sometimes 10-20% below.
Has anyone else noticed this? If they're really that discounted why doesn't someone buy them up and melt them all and make 10-20% profit? Is that illegal? Is the discount because they're not desirable and/or not liquid?
Most importantly, is it a mistake to buy silver nickels? I don't see much discussion of them here (as opposed to 90% / 40% or rounds, etc...)

I'd really appreciate any insight anyone can lend!

AgCollector

Re: Silver Wartime Nickels - always below spot?
 

During the 1979-1980 silver price spike, the refiners had all the 90% silver bags they could handle. With weeks of backlog.

Silver war nickels are more than half copper and only 35% silver. Since this made them harder to refine, the refiners would not bid for them if 90% bags were available.

It's not illegal to melt them.

Re: Silver Wartime Nickels - always below spot?
 

I guess the cost to refine them must be the 10-20% discount to melt that exists.