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 Replies: 22 / Views: 14,926 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1186 Posts |
Hello, I did a quick search in this forum and didn't see this discussion so I wanted to get your opinion. I have a pretty good amount of wheat pennies. Currently I just have them sorted by decade. Unfortunately most of mine are 40's and 50's. Right now the 40's and 50's each have their own large jars while 10's, 20's, and 30's are separated into ziplock bags since I don't have a ton of those years. I have the steel pennies separated out as well. I only have 2 of the 1909's and those are in flip cases since they are poor condition. How would you recommend sorting and storing these? Should I just pick out the "S" mark's of 40's and 50's and put those in paper rolls? I guess I could just keep the common 40's and 50's in their jars unless there would be any reason to further separate them and roll them up. I'm not looking to sell them but wanted to know the best way to sort them and store them incase I ever wanted to sell in the future. Will paper rolls damage them long term? Lastly I have a bag of "green" wheat pennies. These are ones that appear to have started to corrode (bright green color like when a penny got wet). I don't know what to do with these and really have little interest in coins in this bad of shape. Some are even from the teens and 20's (no key dates). Maybe I could throw them on ebay? Otherwise they might get sent to coinstar.. I also have a ton of copper LMC's but they are not organized at all and I don't have the motivation to sort them (yet). Thanks in advance! Edited by LibertyEagle20
02/26/2015 6:29 pm
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Valued Member
United States
415 Posts |
What you are doing is fine. Paper rolls won't hurt them. I'd just put the key dates in flips and the rest in rolls/jars/bags/ whatever you please.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
I guess it would depend on how many coins you plan on accumulating. In my experience it can get out of hand. I use a little of all. - Roll boxes, the ones I use hold 50 rolls - Flips 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 I use theses (smaller that 2X2's) They take up less space. - I use the 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 boxes, some people use vinyl pages that go into 3 ring binders. - Albums and folders - Slabs ( TPG holders) Here is a picture that show some examples (pictured are my U.S. cents)  Edited by GR58
02/26/2015 6:56 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5828 Posts |
I would put some of the nicer examples from each half decade into plastic rolls (Early 1950's, late 1950's, etc...) and just sell the rest.
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
I think storing common date wheat cents in average circulated condition in jars is fine. Keep in mind they are only worth 3 or 4 cents each. I think I have 700-800 of these that I keep not for value but in case someone I know decides to start collecting in the future.
One thing I hear a lot is that most of the wheat cents people get in lots or rolls are from the 40s and 50s. That should be no surprise since 76.7% of all business strike wheat cents were minted in the 40s and 50s according to a spreadsheet I made. Also, since some coins basically cease to exist over time due to extreme wear or simply being lost, this percentage is no doubt even higher in relation to still circulating wheats.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
I should have read more of your post ... I got the impression
you were just looking for how to store your cents.
This is how I look at lincoln cents. Most late 30's and up
circulated wheat cents trade from two to five cents each.
Knowing this, you can have hundreds ...even thousands
with out having a great deal of money tied up.
You can sort them any way you want, year ...mint or
decades. There are some collectors that get into
varities and errors.
The green ones are pretty much a lost cause .....
IMO ...common wheat cents are collected just for the fun of it
I don't think you can make much profit with them.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
1. Buy some Albums, any brand will do. Not Folders, Albums 2. Fill as many as possible placing the best in Album #1, nex best in #2, etc. 3. After that, buy some plastic rolls for them and put them in those based on the year. 4. You could further sort them by year and mint mark, 5. Get some 2x2 flips for the error coins. 6. Buy a Red Book so you can see what is the best ones to save. 7. All the rest that are in really poor condition and are of no great value, take to a bank. Think of all the people finding them in bank rolls and thinking they really got some great coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1186 Posts |
Thanks for all the tips! I like the boxes to hold the rolls but I don't want to spend any additional money on supplies. I decided to separate my 40's and roll up "40s S" and "40s D". I will likely do the same for 50s but it takes a long time to sort them. I can store them in boxes I got from the bank. I'm still on the fence if it's worth rolling up the P varieties or if I should just leave them in a jar. I don't see myself separating my copper LMCs anytime soon..just takes too much time and after a while my eyes hurt! Guess those will have to remain in a jar.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12813 Posts |
@GR58, the more pictures I see of your collection/hoard, the more I'd like to get a tour some day.... Personally all the wheat cents I have are in a small glass jar since I don't have all that many. I've probably gone through 20 boxes or so in the past 3 years and that doesn't really add up to much. So, I think what you're doing is fine if that's what suits you, sa330206. Get a magnified visor like this if your eyes are taking a beating from this. I have one and it works great, keeping my hands free.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Quote:
@GR58, the more pictures I see of your collection/hoard, the more I'd like to get a tour some day.... Just a average collection .. I really want to start buying some higher class/grade examples ... Nice visor .. do you know what the magnification is? 5X or maybe 10X? |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12813 Posts |
Quote:
do you know what the magnification is? 5X or maybe 10X? It's got interchangeable binocular lenses, and as such I think the max magnification is 3.5x at a 4" focal length. Of course a 10x loupe is preferable for fine detail but this reduces eye strain for me while sorting coins and keeps my hands free. While my wife rolls her eyes whenever I break out the "nerd glasses", they're very convenient. It's available on Amazon (look up "Optisight") |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Quote:It's available on Amazon (look up "Optisight") Thanks ... I will  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Not long ago a place called Harbor Fright had several different ones similar to that and really cheap. At one time their add sad free with any purchase. I now have several from them. I like them to remove splinters in my hands. As to uses on coins. The way I see it is if normal enlarging type glasses aren't strong enough, I don't need to save that one.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12813 Posts |
Quote:
I like them to remove splinters in my hands. A good use indeed. Quote:
The way I see it is if normal enlarging type glasses aren't strong enough, I don't need to save that one. How very nice for you. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1256 Posts |
In case you want to go big. Helps with motivation simply because there's always a hole.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1186 Posts |
Cool idea with the visor. We have a harbor freight around here so maybe I'll check it out. I started going through my 50s and realized they made way more out of Denver than Philly in this decade (just the opposite of the 40s). I might be rolling the P and S in the 50s and throwing D in a common jar.
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Replies: 22 / Views: 14,926 |
Posted 02/26/2015 6:52 pm
