Its Been A While..any Suggestions On Lincoln Wheat Set?

Based on mintage I think these are all winners. The ones marked with * are coins I have found roll searching or searching through my dealer's 10 cent bin:

1909-S-VDB, 1909-VDB*, 1909-S, 1910-S, 1911-D*, 1911-S, 1912-D*, 1912-S, 1913-D, 1914-D, 1914-S, 1915-D, 1915-S, 1921-S*, 1922-D*, 1922, 1923-S, 1924-D, 1924-S*, 1926-S, 1927-S*, 1928-S, 1931*, 1931-D*, 1931-S, 1932*, 1932-D*, 1933, 1933-D*, 1938-S, 1939-D*

Note I ommitted 1913-S because you already have it obviously a great, great LWC

merclover- my only real problem with that is that I am searching for a really strong set. I want it to be a valuable and nice BU type set. I hardly ever find any BU wheats in rolls and I have search through at least 1,000 worth of them. As a college student its tough to drop 100 worth on a box of pennies and then have the time and space to organize them out and search all of them. Any suggestions on that as well? and I do not have a roll sorter/coin roller. So I would have to do it all by hand or have them send it off to another bank to be counted since I am with regions. That alone costs a decent amount itself. I feel like it is just more worth it to hand pick them and or purchase them off ebay.

fenton- I will for sure be on the look out for those. I do have a nice MS 64 VDB but there are a few lincoln in there that are going to cost me a "pretty penny" haha..thanks for all the help

If you are trying to build a BU set - which I think is a great goal, maybe because that is what I am trying to do - you are going to have to commit to 1) taking your time and 2) spending some money on it.

If you search enough rolls, you can probably find quite a few coins from the 1950's and maybe a few from the 1940's, but for the most part, you are going to have to buy some coins and your chances of finding BU earlier than the 1940's in rolls will decline pretty rapidly.

I have my set built in BU back to 1930 and have all the Philly mints in BU except for 1912 and 1915. Based on my experience, you are looking at:

1950's - probably can get these for less than a dollar each, maybe better if you bargain hunt a little

1940's - probably can get these for $2-4 each, again, bargains do exist. 1942-S is one you will probably need to shell out a little more for.

1934-39 - you are probably looking at anywhere from $5-15 each for these. BadThad has some pretty attractive deals on some 30's coins in the auctions section right now...

1928-33 - you are looking at $20-30 each for many of these and you have a couple of your first key/semi-keys in here - 31-D $100+ and 31-S $175+. Some of the branch mints from the late 20's could run you $40-50 as well.

1909-27 - the P mints are pretty affordable - similar to the 28-33, with a few exceptions, but everything can probably be had for under $100 each and most under $50. But the branch mints are going to be expensive - BU coins will be in the low hundreds and of course the keys (09-S, 09-S VDB and 14-D) will be very expensive. The 09-S is not too bad but the other two are in the thousands each.

I am telling you all of this not to get you discouraged but just to plan out your approach. You can get brown circulated coins for most pretty cheaply and so in my case at least, it helped me to have "a set" that was mostly complete that I could upgrade. Then I set some interim goals - BU back to 1940, then BU back to 1934, then BU back to 1930, etc. You can make pretty good progress back to 1934 with not a ridiculous amount of money - when you get there, hopefully you are out of college and can boost the budget a little.

I have had good luck with ebay, coin stores and coin shows - I'd use them all as sources. For memorials especially, you can pull them out of rolls too. I went to a coin show this weekend and could have put a serious dent in some teens branch mints. Unfortunately, I didn't have a couple thousand dollars to spend on coins...

Patience will be key...

I have just started working on the early years. I have a lot but they are not up to collection grade. I'm doing these in strong XF and even though I can afford most Philly's in a higher grade I would rather they match. The big keys will suffer some I'm sure. Date range 1909 through 1933.

My first step was to make a budget sheet. I used PCGS and another unmentionable site along with buy it now prices on ebay. The goal is to stay under these prices. I've got a few half price which is nice (watch that shipping!) Set a max price you want to spend on each coin. Stick with it. This is what takes time as it's too easy to be impulsive.

Next I decided on an amount to either use or save per payday. Set up an account to handle that (actually did this at lunch today).

Set up my searches on ebay and wait.

I'm very limited on coin shops and shows here but I'm sure they'll come into play soon enough.

If I get one or 2 nice XFs a month, I'll be tickled.

Best of luck!

I need to try and do one of those although I don't know the prices very well yet..I am trying to research as much as I can and figure out bargains and steals from retail..I LOVE MS 70, it is some awesome stuff..especially for albums and stuff. It really gives back some of that luster and just removes all the dirt and crap on the coin. It doesn't really chemically hard them like dipping does.

Being unfamiliar with "MS70" I looked it up. I found that this: "MS-70 coin cleaner is a blend of industrial detergents and surfactants".

Nothing about this sounds appealing, and I for one don't want it anywhere near my coins.

I don't want to be a negative Nancy, but I have found searching rolls (and bags) from banks to be a HUGE time-sink. You can find 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s in MS66RD already graded for around $20 on ebay. This may sometimes reach $30 or $40, but most can be had for less. If you go down to something lower like MS64 or MS65 they are basically had for a few dollars. Some don't like "graded/slabbed" coins, but for copper this extra level of protection from the elements gives me some piece of mind. Copper is so incredibly reactive with the elements and air that it's hard to think of a better way to protect them (though no 100% guaranteed). Just my 2 cents.

Ya I mean searching rolls is fun, but I honestly haven't found anything HUGE ya know? Sometimes I just feel like I can be wasting my time. I mean it literally is a HUGE time sink. To throughly search a full box of pennies, it normally takes about 3-4 hours for me. Or I can hop on ebay and find some buy it nows for dirt cheap. Especially auctions. I really like greatsoutherncoins wheats on ebay. They are always in great BU shape.

Once again guys thanks for all the help. And just a pointer, from what I have read and experienced. All MS70 does is just remove dirt and grim. It literally does about nothing else. It just restores the coin slightly. I truly wouldn't even consider it to be cleaning really. It does nothing to the finish at all.