Original photo by Dulcey Lima/Unsplash.com
A nickel weighs 5 grams, which isn’t a lot — you could have several in your pocket without even noticing. But the humble 5-cent piece is still heavier than the average hummingbird, which typically weighs between 2.5 and 4.5 grams. (It’s still not a good idea to put a hummingbird in your pocket, though.)
There are some exceptions — members of the largest species, the aptly named giant hummingbird, weigh around 18 to 24 grams — but most hummingbirds come in at under 5 grams. Some even weigh less than a penny (2.5 grams).
Hummingbirds are native to the Americas, ranging from Alaska in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south. Though they’re a common sight in the U.S., they’re primarily found in Central and South America. Most species don’t migrate, but the rufous hummingbird not only migrates but also has one of the longest migrations in the world: nearly 4,000 miles from Alaska to Mexico, which it completes twice a year. Nickels do quite a bit of their own traveling, as the average coin can stay in circulation for up to 30 years.
Numbers Don't Lie
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The U.S. Mint stopped producing new pennies in 2025.
It was a good run, but new pennies are no longer being minted as of November 12, 2025. First produced in 1793, the 1-cent coin had long been considered obsolete by many, in part because the cost of making one (3.69 cents) exceeded its actual value.
Some have speculated the nickel could be next, and for similar reasons — each one costs 13.78 cents to produce, an even greater disparity than that of the penny — but no formal plans to stop production have been made as of 2026. Cash is being used less than ever before, and loose change in particular feels increasingly like a relic of the past, even if nickels, dimes, and quarters aren’t going away anytime soon.
Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.
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