Pile Of Wheat Pennies....and Don't Know What To Do!

to the forum!

You have to be very careful in a situation like this.
Coin collecting is contagious and many people have caught it in situations just like yours.
It starts out simple, like looking for rare dates, then you accidentally run across an error coin or rare variety and then, just like that, you have it.
To date, there is no known cure for it and it can become very time consuming. Before you know it, you will have a new coffee can full of newer coins that someone else will find someday (that's how it spreads).
You will catch yourself looking at the cents in the "take a penny, leave a penny" tray at the local fast stop. Your pockets will get holes worn in them because of the change you refuse to spend until you've had a chance to properly go through it.
You will even hold up the line at Wal-mart while you carefully look at the coins before you give any to the cashier. When you close your eyes at night, you will see random dates of coins flashing under your eyelids until you eventually fall asleep, caused from looking at coins under magnification for long periods of time.
I could go on and on about the what else could happen, but I think you get the idea.
Don't risk it, leave them a lone. Anyone here knows that a coffee can of genuine unsearched wheat cents is bound to have some nice finds in it, and that's all it takes to hook you.
I hope you do well whatever you decide to do with the can, just know that I tried to warn you.

I roll them by decades or 20s-30s or 40s-50s if needed to make groups of 50. Then I stash them in my basement with all of their friends.

Or, if it's too much hassle, I'll gladly provide you with my mailing address.

I think the real value in this can of coins was that they belonged to your grandfather.

If I had a pile of cents like that I would first sort them by decade, then select one decade and sort by year and finally sort one year by mint marks.

Then I would look up all possible varieties for that year and mint mark and keep an eye out for obvious errors. As a rule, tiny little errors are not worth a lot of money.

If I didn't discover any valuable error or variety, I would then put them in holders. I'd keep the ones I wanted and give the rest to other family members so that everybody had some coins from your grandfather.

to the CCF!

I know you are getting a lot of information about your wheaties. It is best to take it all very slow and go step-by-step. My grandfather did the same for me when I went back to the states for Thanksgiving.

I made sure I bought a Wheat cent book to put them in, but took great time with each and every one of them to search for errors, doubled dies, etc. Take in all the information from the experts here at CC!

It is a wonderful thing to carry on a late loved one's passion and take it as your own.

AngieEllen, You got some good advice (and kidding) from everyone above. Good folks on here. They will help you a lot. As some stated above, I sort them by year, and then start with the earliest and find out everything I can about them, varieties, errors, etc. Then move on to the next year. You don't have to rush at it, That way it's enjoyable and not overwhelming. Good Luck

If only I were in Oregon. I would love to spend a couple hours with you going through that coffee can of Wheat cents!!