Ni is a pretty common component of many stainless steel compositions ren.
Are you sensitive to nickel, that you know of? if you aren't sure, element samples are available on ebay, and metallic Ni isn't highly expensive. You could always do a patch test to determine any allergies. Just have some corticosteroid cream and an antihistamine handy, in case you do turn out allergic to it. Just to relieve the irritation afterwards.
And if you get any, and after your done with your patch testing, I'd be happy to buy it off you, as I can make use of it in preparing Raney nickel (An ultra-finely divided form of metallic Ni, prepared by alloying it with molten aluminium, then dissolving away the aluminium using caustic soda solution, leaving behind the Raney nickel, as a grey, highly pyrophoric powder. Needs careful handling to avoid its catching fire upon exposure to the atmosphere; but does make for an excellent reducing agent, as a MUCH cheaper replacement in many circumstances for the damnably expensive platinum group metal catalysts when performing catalytic hydrogenations)
If you do try patch testing...and want to make your money back, Ni powder would be preferable for my own purposes, and I imagine it would be easy to apply, for instance, as a small quantity stuck onto the latex glue of an ordinary plaster (assuming you are not of course, allergic to latex). As it would be easier for me to dissolve finely powdered metal into the molten aluminium alloys used to prepare Raney nickel.
Or is it not an allergic type reaction you are experiencing? In my experience, some metals do tend to cause skin to smell/taste metallic after handling them, copper in particular. If I have to handle copper coins, pipe, powder etc for any length of time and my hands are sweaty or wet, then I find that it leaves an unpleasant metallic smell behind, along with an astringent, metallic taste.
