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 Replies: 32 / Views: 7,781 |
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New Member
United States
44 Posts |
Tons Of Wheat Pennies, Need Advice.
2015, October 21
So my dad asked me to sell his wheat pennies for him, he's just not up to the task really. These were all coins that he dug out of the ground with his metal finder. They are old and very dirty. What I'd like to know is what would be the best way to sort through these and sell them. I've started making a pile for each year which I'm sure is what will need to be done. But once that is finished I am not sure what the most important dates and mint marks are that I need to be on the lookout for. I'm aware of VDB pennies, 1922 plain, 1955 double die, 1943 copper, 1944 steel, 1914 D, and 1931 S. I'm sure there are others that I'm not aware of. It's just a very overwhelming task and will take a long time. Should these be sold in one giant lot, or separated into lots of 500? What would you guys do? I want to find a balance between wasting my precious time and getting decent value out of these coins. Any input is greatly appreciated. BTW every now and then I'm pulling Indian pennies, Buffalo nickels and Shield nickels out so that's kinda cool too, I'll figure those out later.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12813 Posts |
 Wow, that would be so much fun to go through! However as for selling, the condition is going to be the killer here. If you don't have the time to go through them you may just want to bundle them up in packages of 500 and list them for $20 a lot on ebay as "unsearched". Kidding... an inside joke there. Well, not so inside, but still a joke. Personally, I'd get a list of key dates (readily available here and with a Google search, and it sounds like you have a good idea already anyway) and go through each one while watching football or a movie. Pull out any keys and then bundle the rest like I suggested above. I'm not a pro seller though - I'm sure there are lots of other good ideas out there for you.  |
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New Member
 United States
44 Posts |
Thanks for the reply. Yep that's basically what I was planning to do. Problem is that a lot of these are covered with dirt and could be very pretty underneath and it's hard to tell. I almost want to just throw them all in the dishwasher to remove the caked on dirt lol. And I also wonder if I should be keeping the ones that do look to be in real good condition off to the side or not. So many different ways to go about this I just need to find the right balance between money made and time wasted. If I do a good job my dad is going to let me sell his metalfound silver collection. I'm sure you guys would love to see that too lol.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
997 Posts |
Personally I would have a blast going through them all. Since time is an issue for you I would suggest that you go through them at your leisure. Sort them by year first, then go through the ones like 1909 or 1931 with obvious high value possibilities.
Once you have culled out the known high-value coins you can look at individual years more closely for better condition coins worthy of a light rinsing off of the dirt.
Since you do not have a financial investment at stake you can have fun and maybe find a couple gems.
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New Member
United States
44 Posts |
It's very fun to go through them yet daunting at the same time due to the sheer amount of coins. Lots of squinting on the dirtiest ones to find the date. I can tell my dad dug them up though because the whole coin could be covered with dirt, but the corner where the date is will be more clean where he wiped it off with his finger. I've probably gone through 600 so far (rough estimate) and have found coins for each year except 1922 and 1943, I wonder if my dad put the steel coins somewhere else. Smallest piles are from 1909-1915, 1921-1926. Largest piles so far have to be the years 1944-1945, they must have really ramped up production then.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Have you found anything notable so far in what you have searched? Truthfully, in the condition that these coins are in after spending so much time in the ground, only the aforementioned key dates would fetch much over the "by the pound" wholesale price. 1922 is a rare year, so no surprise it's missing. 1943 cents are made of crude steel, not coin-quality stainless, and the steel core is exposed on the rim. 30-70 years in the moist ground probably would have reduced them to little rust nuggets, so no surprise if your father did not find any worth keeping. Truthfully, as much as I hate to admit it, you could probably make more money by selling them unsearched on ebay, as long as you are willing to bet that there are no 1909-S VDBs or 1931-S's. 1922 plain would be pretty tough to authenticate "weak D" versus "No D" in dug condition. Post a picture of the lot of jars and a picture of the 1909s, IHCs, and Shield nickels, and bidders will buy you out by tomorrow. 99% chance there is no single coin worth over $5 in this lot, and if all of these are an investment to be sold, that is how you will get the best return. Of course, if you want any of these for yourself, then I wish you very happy hunting! I am jealous! |
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Valued Member
United States
374 Posts |
Yup. They made over a billion in '44 and '45. They made so many for seignorage's sake. They federal government wanted to profit from minting coins and printing bills to make a little dough for the war at hand.
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Valued Member
United States
374 Posts |
Like Finn said, there is a SLIM chance you would find any coins like '22s or '09-s vdbs, but there are some semi-key dates to look for:
1909-p vdb
1910-s
1911-d
1911-s
1912-d
1912-s
1913-d
1913-s
1915-d
1915-s
1926-s
1931-d
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Valued Member
United States
374 Posts |
As for the others, sell them in lots of 500 for 15 dollars each.
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New Member
United States
44 Posts |
Well that 99% chance failed because there was a 1922 no S that I shipped away yesterday for grading. My dad held it separate out of the jars because he knew. But I already have a big pile of unreadable pennies that need the dirt rinsed off, that pile will grow very big too.
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New Member
United States
15 Posts |
If you clean them, do some research on proper and safe ways to clean them. I have cleaned wheat cents in multiple wrong ways before (In a rock tumbler, and in coke, wouldn't advise ketchup either) and nothing will ruin the value of wheat cents like an off color, improperly cleaned coin. I just don't want you to lose the value of these coins after all the hard work your father put in to find them.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Boy that looks like fun! Enjoy!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1186 Posts |
Others have pointed out key dates. As far as the 40's and 50's go.. it MAY be worth pulling out the S mints separate. You could sell them 40's/50's P+D and then have another group 40's/50's S. Some of the 40's/50's S have lower mintages than even the teen/20's/30's P dates. As someone else said though, condition may be a killer here. It may or may not be worth sorting the way I advised.
Good luck and have fun!
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New Member
United States
44 Posts |
Is cleaning them with water acceptable?
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
The problem with dug copper is it's close to impossible to clean them where they will have close to original color. all you can do is pull out the keys and semi keys, rinse off top dirt with plain water. when dry put them in bowl of acetone a minimum of 24 hours. take out of bowl , place on paper towel. the acetone will evaporate very quickly. may need another soaking ,this time pick at dirt and crud with a thorn from a rose bush. this will not damage the coin . if coin comes out fairly decent, you may want to use a nice coating of Verdi-care (follow directions).
Good luck !
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New Member
United States
44 Posts |
My friend wants me to put them in a deep frying turkey pot and boil them lol.
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Replies: 32 / Views: 7,781 |
Posted 10/21/2015 12:34 pm
