Not being A U.S. citizen, I hesitate to suggest this from far away, but doesn't the Nichols/Nickels pun go one stage further, to involve the "Red" as well? I've certainly seen the phrase "I don't have a red nickel", clearly meaning "I'm broke". (Since the Mint never made a red nickel, it may be that red-looking ones were worthless forgeries - so the speaker could be saying "I don't even have a fake one".)
R.D.