A Nickel is a five-cent coin that has been issued since 1866 by the United States Mint, composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel. Due to inflation the purchasing power of the nickel continues to drop.

The Great Depression started in the United States after a major fall in stock prices that began around September 4, 1929, and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929, also known as Black Tuesday.

The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and a lot of people had to live lterally on the Nickel.

• 13 million people became unemployed
• 34 million people belonged to families with no regular wage earner
• Industrial production fell by nearly 45%
• Homebuilding dropped by 80%
• 5,000 banks went out of business.
• U.S. GDP fell around 30%
• Stock market lost almost 90%
• In Cleveland, the unemployment rate was 50%; in Toledo, 80%
• 1 million families lost their farms
• Corporate profits dropped from $10 billion to $1 billion 
• Average American family income was reduced by 40%
• 9 million savings accounts had been wiped out
• 2 million homeless people migrating around the country
• 60% of Americans were categorized as poor b
• No Nickels or Dimes were minted in 1932–33, no quarter dollars in 1931 or 1933, no half dollars from 1930 to 1932, and no silver dollars in the years 1929–33.
• 25% of all schoolchildren were malnourished
• The 1930 U.S. Census determined the U.S. population to be 122,775,046. About 40% of the population was under 20 years old.