When Did Wheat Cents Become Collectible?

I agree, thank you for the added perspective.

Thad, ,I didn't know you were that old ?

Yeah, and I've even seen several nice examples that didn't exist in 1909 {grin}

As a child in the late 1960's I would get a 50 cent a week allowance and would usually go to the local bank to get a roll of pennies, looking for Indian Heads. I would find one or 2 a month and built up a pretty sizable collection. Wheats were still common and usually were tossed back unless they were one I needed to fill a slot or "really old" as determined by being older than my parents...

When My older sister got a job as a bank teller in 72 or 73 she would save IHC's and most silver coins. She had to pass on many Peace and Morgan dollars and various half dollars often since she only made about $1.50 or $2 an hour. Asit was she ended up with coffee cans full of silver coins after a year or 2.

We didn't start saving Wheats because they were Wheats until the early 80's. These days Wheats in circulation are as rare as IHC's were 50 years ago.

Oh boy, can you even imagine what today's wheat crop would look like if verdicare was available in the early part of the 20th century

I didn't want to start a separate thread for this so I thought maybe I could slip it into this conversation. What is meant by the term: "Reconstituted Lincoln Steel Cent." I'm pretty sure it means it's been "fixed" or re-plated, meant to look new and uncirculated, but that probably also means it's been ruined. Jack

Yup you got it. They are plated to give the appearance of a mint state coin. It's done alot by those companies that put random sets together in plastic slab holders