plugged nickel
Drilled-out five-cent piece
A plugged nickel is a coin that's been tampered with—drilled and filled with cheaper metal—making it worthless.
The phrase survives almost exclusively in the negative: I wouldn't give you a plugged nickel for that car.
It emphasizes that something has no value whatsoever, not even the five cents a genuine nickel would be worth.
Not the real thing
- phonyFraudulent person or thing
- bogusCounterfeit or fraudulent
- shamFraudulent imitation
- spuriousFalse though appearing genuine
forgery · falsified · fraudulent · deceitful · dishonest · crooked · imposture · charlatan
Having no worth
- uselessWithout practical value
- trivialLacking significance or weight
- insignificantLacking importance or consequence
- negligibleToo small to consider
paltry · inconsequential · meaningless · trifling · petty · nominal · futile · empty
fake
Not the real thing
spurious · forgery · falsified · fraudulent · deceitful · dishonest · crooked · imposture · charlatan · debased
valueless
Having no worth
- uselessWithout practical value
- trivialLacking significance or weight
- insignificantLacking importance or consequence
negligible · paltry · inconsequential · meaningless · trifling · petty · nominal · futile · empty · hollow
- worthless thingsnot worth a dime, not worth a hill of beans, dime a dozen, two-bit, good for nothing
plugged nickelfortune
Wealth or destiny
treasure · king's ransom · million dollars · pot of gold · windfall
plugged nickellegal tender
Officially recognized payment medium
real money · good money · hard currency · sound money · gold standard
plug, plugs, plugging, unplug, unplugged, plugger, nickel, nickels, nickeled