Wheat penny – Lincoln Pennies – Wheat ear coins
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Coin-Gifted
Sep 5th
I just celebrated a birthday. (Which one? That’s private.) I have talked with many about the fact that I collect coins. A lady in the church that I pastor gifts me every year on my birthday. And she buys unusual things.
This year it was a small box which included three separate containers inside. The first package contained a multipurpose knife and tool. The second was an 1885 silver dollar; she told me she had gone to a local coin dealer, wanting to find something I wouldn’t have. She did. I don’t really collect silver dollars, but that one is special and I will keep it. I have a few others, but none that old. It was quite a surprise.
The third package was a very small box with a plastic sandwich bag in it. The bag contained about seventeen wheat ear cents. The wheat ear pennies are not any that I am missing in my collection. But I keep all wheat ears. They became part of my “extras.”
Where did she get the pennies? My friend’s son works at an auto parts store. He purchased them out of the change given by customers. I am not sure of the time frame over which he collected them. He is not a coin collector. He simply kept them because they are rarely seen.
The pennies range between the early 1940s through the early 1950s. Most are in the ‘40s. Why do I tell this? It is still possible to find wheat ear cents in circulation. A person that wants to begin a penny collection can do so. It is especially possible if the person is in some type of sales business. Watch the change that passes through your hands. If a person does not work with money, he or she can make friends with people who do. And maybe you will get an unexpected birthday gift.
I received another unexpected coin recently, also. I do collect quarters, dimes and nickels along with the pennies. Along with pastoring, I teach high school math. I have told my students that I collect coins. Some have brought me pennies, like the 2009 Lincoln series. One student has shown me several old coins so I can help him evaluate them. None are some I have really wanted. But another student brought me one I did want—a 1948-plain Washington quarter. The collection in which I need the most is the silver editions of the Washington quarter. And that was one I was missing. He found it in his stash of quarters at home. I purchased the coin from him, paying him a fair price for it. If I am fair with him and other students they will be more likely to bring other coins. Let people know of your interest in coins and many will help you.
Visit a U. S. Mint
Aug 3rd
Philadelphia Mint
We enjoyed the tour. Of course, a mint is where coins are produced. We toured the entire mint and witnessed the process. We also purchased a proof set which included a perfect specimen of each of the coins in current circulation—penny, nickel, dime, quarter and half dollar. I have not centered on collecting proofs, so that is a rarity in my collection.
Philadelphia housed the first U. S. mint and, thus, the longest existing one. It was built in 1793, and has occupied four locations in the city. Nearly all the proofs were minted in Philadelphia until 1968. Most coins include a mint mark, which indicates the place of origin. The early Philadelphia coins did not need a mint mark since it was the only location of mintage. It was 1980 when “P” was added to all the coins except Lincoln cents. Before then the only coins with the “P” mint mark were Susan B. Anthony dollars and wartime Jefferson nickels.
Several mints around the United States have closed. Charlotte, North Carolina (mint mark “C”), and Dahlonega, Georgia (“D”), hosted mints for gold coins (1838-1861); they were closed due to the Civil War. New Orleans (“O”) was home to an active mint from 1838 to 1909, except for 1861-1879. The mint in Carson City operated from 1870 to 1893 to take advantage of the silver discovery. Coins for the colony of the Philippines were minted in Manila from 1920-1922 and 1925-1941. Here’s interesting trivia: The Dalles, Oregon, was commissioned for a mint in 1864. Constructed began but was suspended in 1870 and was never used as a mint. The building still exists.
The other mints used for today’s currency are located in Denver (“D”) and San Francisco (“S”). The Denver mint was an assay office from 1863 until the mint began production in 1906. Philadelphia and Denver are the only mints in use for coins put in circulation. The San Francisco mint was established in 1854. A new facility built in 1874 survived the great earthquake of 1906 and continued in operation. The mint was closed in 1955 but reopened in 1965 to help with the shortage of coins. Since 1975 San Francisco has produced only proofs except for the Anthony dollar and some cents in the early 1980s which had no mint mark.
There are two more cities connected with the mint system. West Point was utilized to make cents from 1973-1988 (without mint marks) and became a mint in 1988, and is used for silver, gold and platinum American Eagle coins, marked “W.” Fort Knox is used as a storage for coins.
If you get a chance to visit one of the mints, current or closed, do it. You will enjoy the opportunity.
Grow the Value
Jul 22nd
Wheat ear pennies that I found years ago in circulation have escalated in value. Each one cost me one cent. Now they are worth ten cents each, a quarter and up to a few dollars and even higher for the rarer ones. That’s an increase in value of 1000 percent up to many thousands. Jefferson nickels that came at the sacrificial price of five cents are now worth five to ten dollars and more. All the silver coins I have are valued much higher than the number printed on their surfaces.
What is the secret of increasing the value of coins? The biggest factor is time. The older a coin becomes, the more value it carries. We seem to be intrigued by age—at least when it comes to antique items. (It may not be as true for human life; we don’t esteem age as much, unless a person happens to reach something over one hundred years.) When a customer paid for his milk with a couple of 1912 half dollars, it caught my eye because you don’t see such things. I bought the two halves for a total of one dollar, but their value is much higher now, simply because of their age and scarceness.
Recently I picked up some rolls of 2011 pennies from the bank. They were straight from the mint in perfect uncirculated MS60 condition. I have retained them. I just saw a coin company selling such rolls for six dollars. Already, that’s twelve times their face value. But I won’t sell them now. I’ll keep them, because every year the value will go up as the number of 2011 uncirculated Lincoln cents decreases and the demand for them increases.
What seems like a hobby today can turn into cash tomorrow. Collect coins from circulation. Look for the unique specimens, determined by date, mintage and condition. Take care of them. Add to them. If you desire, buy some of the missing coins to fill in the holes. Then let them escalate in price as long as you wish. Keep them. Sell them. Pass them on as an inheritance to the next generation. But don’t just spend them. If it comes to that for you, contact me and see if I might purchase them from you.
Choose the coins—Lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters, half dollars, dollars—whatever you desire. Work at it a little. Build your collections. Then watch the value grow.
When You Least Expect It
Jun 25th
We went to the east coast—and I looked the Philadelphia mint marks I needed. I searched through rolls of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. And as I stated in the last blog, I was successful. I found most of the newer coins from the eastern mint which I needed.
The main ones I was not able to locate were some recent Washington quarters—state quarters and national park issues. When we left from here I needed six state quarters with the “P” mintage. I found three of them, leaving three missing when I returned home.
A few days ago I went two places and made purchases with cash. In change I received two quarters from one and one quarter from the other. The change from both went into my “unchecked change” pocket, where I put change until I get the chance to look at it.
Later, at home, I looked at the coins. One of them was the 2001-P Rhode Island state quarter—one of those three I was missing. (The other two I lack are the 2006-P Nebraska and 2008-P New Mexico.) The quarter is in near uncirculated condition, which is not surprising for a coin that recent.
Go figure! You make special efforts to find certain coins, and then one of them comes to you.
The moral to this story is easy. Don’t take anything for granted when you are collecting coins. A coin you need may show anywhere at any time. You could find extras of the Lincoln wheat ear penny or silver dimes or quarters. I find the easiest to locate are the older Jefferson nickel. Until recently, there had been no change and so it seems people did not pay as close attention to them. But non-coin collectors pay little heed to coins at all, so many may pass through their hands and land at some point in yours.
The quarter that wound up in my pocket was not one of great value, but it was one which I needed in attempting to complete that collection. That made it valuable to me. Keep looking.
The East Coast Trip Was Successful
Jun 20th
We went to the east coast—Florida to be specific. The purpose of our trip was not coin collecting; that was simply a sideline. We went to beach to veg out and work a little on sun tanning. The vegging and the tanning worked, and my coin search on the side turned out well, also.
The purpose with the coins was to find Philadelphia mints I was missing in recent years for Lincoln pennies, Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes and Washington quarters. We found a grocery chain which allowed us to purchase rolls of coins and then to trade them in for more after checking and rerolling them. Read on to see how we did.
Let’s start with Lincoln cents. I needed one penny in the 90s and six in the 2000s. Four of the seven were in the rolls. The only ones I didn’t find were three of the four 2009 Philadelphia mint; that’s the series commemorating Lincoln’s 200th birthday with four scenes from his life on the reverse. It is interesting that out of 600 pennies there was only one 2009 penny, and that was the one Philadelphia mint I already had—depicting his professional life. There were two wheat ear cents, which would seem to be far scarcer. People are snatching up the 2009 series because of it’s uniqueness. So after the excursion, except for those 2009 pennies, the latest penny I am missing is the 1931-S wheat ear cent, and then I go back to the 1924-D before there’s another hole in the collection. My Lincoln cent collection, from 1909 through 2011, is 94% complete, lacking only 16 of 266 varieties.
Before the trip, there were four missing Jefferson nickels from the 2000s, all Philadelphia mints. All four were found, leaving the only outstanding absentee in my collection the 1950-D nickel. That’s 99.4% complete. (I’m a math teacher; I have to talk percentages.)
My Roosevelt dime collection had only six modern variations AWOL, and all six in the 2000s were brought in. That collection is 90% finished. The only silver clad dime not accounted for is the 1982 with the P missing; all the other missing ones are silver between 1946 and 1959.
In the Washington quarter category I needed six state coins with a P mint mark. Of those I found three. I also discovered one of the national park Philadelphia mints I lacked. That brought my quarters to about 76%. All but three state commemoratives and three national parks issues of the absentees are silver between 1932 and 1963. Quarters have been the least concentrated on areas of my collections, and at one time I sold my silver coins.
Not only did I find the eighteen missing coins, I was able to upgrade a lot of dates to coins in better condition. This was especially true of Lincoln cents where my Lincoln memorial set beginning in 1959 looks nearly brand new, with most in uncirculated or near uncirculated condition.
You probably don’t want to schedule a trip to the opposite coast merely to look for coins, but if you go, take advantage.
Take Advantage of Travel to Find Newer Coins
Jun 6th
We live in the western half of the United States. Thus most of the coins we see out here have the D, for Denver, mint mark. And by the time coins with P or no mint mark (both for Philadelphia) get out here, usually they are more worn. So when I travel east, I have opportunity to look for coins from the Philadelphia mint.
In June we are doing just that—traveling to Florida. In case you didn’t do well in geography in school, that’s pretty far east in the States. I hope to pick up most of the newer coins I am missing while I am there.
My most active coin collections are Lincoln pennies, Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes and Washington quarters. These coins traverse more than one era because of the changes they have seen. For example, the Lincoln penny began as the wheat ear cent, became the Lincoln Memorial cent in 1959, and underwent significant changes on the reverse in 2009 and again in 2010. Roosevelt dimes and Washington quarters were both changed from silver to the current clad coinage in 1965. And beginning in 1998 the quarter has a multitude of reverse images. Until recently the Jefferson nickel had no changes since its inception in 1938 (except for the wartime ones); the consistent design has made finding the issues a little easier, but that may change soon.
I only mention all the above in order to emphasize my pending search in Florida. The four collections from their respective inceptions, collectively, are nearly 90% complete. Many of those I am missing are from the latest varieties of each—the mid 1990’s and later. Only one is a Denver mint. I plan to use cash for our smaller purchases and receive the change. I hope to purchase some rolls of those coins and sort them. My hope is to find most of the Philadelphia mints that I am lacking in the latter coins.
No, I probably will not discover any coins of real value. I don’t expect to find any wheat ear pennies or silver dimes or quarters, or wartime nickels. But it should be relatively easy to find Philadelphia mints.
Take advantage of trips you take to opposite sides of the country from you. It will help you to fill in the missing slots from recent sets without having to purchase them specially. And it is more fun to search than to buy.
Catalogue Your Coins
May 23rd
I have been working lately to catalogue my coins as I add new ones that I find. It is important to know what you have for several reasons. On the basis of what you have and what you need for a particular set you can create a sheet listing the coins you are missing which you may find in circulation. I create a file for each set of coins, like Lincoln cents, for example. The file is a chart with one line for each variety of the coin—date, mint mark, special feature, etc. The 1909 wheat ear penny has four varieties: 1909, 1909 VBD (designer’s initials at bottom of reverse), 1909-S and 1909-S VDB. It is from these charts that I create the list of coins in circulation which I lack.
If your coins are ever stolen (which mine were twice when I was a kid) you will have a record of what is missing and you can give an accurate report and description to insurance and police. Hopefully, this will never happen to you, but it could. Keep your valuable coins safe.
The cataloguing also helps you evaluate your collections. If you do want to sell, you can seek a fair price.
You should also catalogue your extras for the same reasons as stated above, as well as for trading purposes if you have a friend with whom you can trade.
Being a mathematician, I keep track of the percentage of each set which I have collected. The coins currently in circulation which I collect are Lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes and Washington quarters. Lincoln cents began in 1909 with the first edition of the wheat ear penny. The first Jefferson nickel to be minted was in 1938, Roosevelt dimes appeared in 1946 and Washington quarters were born in 1932.
If you consider four coins together, there are nearly 850 varieties to date. Of those I have collected about 85% of the varieties, or about 720. Of the ones I am missing, about one-third are newer coins which I will probably pull out of circulation in the near future. (I had not been diligent on looking for the new ones until the last couple of years when I decided to update my collections.) That will make my sets about 90% complete.
Most of the coins I have found on my own. I have purchased very few of them (easily less than twenty). The one closest to completion is the Jefferson nickels. It is 96% finished, with only one nickel missing before 1955 (1950-D). The Lincoln cent collection, including wheat ears, Lincoln Memorial backs, the four stages of Lincoln’s life, and the new shield-shaped reverses, is 90% done, again with one-third of the missing coins from recent years.
Numismatics is a great hobby and you can take a lot of satisfaction in the building of your collections.
Coins That Are Keepers
May 16th
As I check coins, there are some that are automatically “keepers.” Which coins are those that I don’t question but wind up in my extras caches? There are several categories.
Of course there are the ones which carry intrinsic value because they are “out of print.” This includes any silver coins—those dimes, quarters or halves which were minted in 1964 and earlier. That was the last year before these coins became the silver clad coins. I find very, very few of these, but every now and then one will show up. A few months ago I found a dime from the 50’s. It goes without saying that if I pull from circulation an issue before the Lincoln cents (that’s never), Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes or Washington quarters, it goes into a special place for such coins.
I keep all wheat ear pennies. They don’t crop up very often, but it is occasional. I actually have hundreds of extra wheat ear cents. By extra, I mean those not catalogued in my collection books.
There are certain dates or varieties which I always keep. In 1960 Lincoln cents were minted with two sizes of dates. The two are appropriately termed “large date” and “small date.” I retain all 1960s. Again in 1982 the Lincoln cent came in several varieties. In fact, there are a total of seven different varieties of 1982 plain and 1982-D. There are small date and large date issues, and the composition of the metals was changed during the year, which produced two different weights. I save all ’82 Lincoln cents. The 1970-S was also minted with large and small dates. I can throw these into a jar and at some time sort and catalog them.
Early coins are keepers, especially when I find them in excellent condition. This is a judgment call based on the particular coins and the amount of each minted.
Coins in uncirculated or near uncirculated condition are some that are good to hang onto, also. At some point they may carry some value.
I like to keep some special issues or other coins of particular interest to me. It is fun to collect the state, territory and national park quarters. I can’t afford to keep them all, but I do save a lot of them, particularly some in great condition.
Your list of keepers will vary from mine. Keep your eyes open for the ones you decide to retain.
Enlist a Little Help
May 11th
Wyoming Washington State Quarter
“This is the only coin I have,” he stated. “I haven’t seen this one before.”
“That’s a state quarter. It is Wyoming,” I replied. “Let me see it.”
Of the 112 state, Washington DC and US territory Washington quarters I was still missing eight. Since I live in the west, they are all P-mint marks, which are more difficult to find out here. I looked at the quarter and it was the Wyoming specimen with the Philadelphia “P.” It was one of the eight. It was the only coin he had in his pocket and I bought it from him.
We talked about pennies and I showed them a sample of a wheat ear Lincoln cent. The same boy said, “I have a big jar of pennies at home. I’ll look through it for some of those.” The next day he showed up with two wheat ear pennies. One was a very common 1957-D. The other was less common, 1950-S. My Lincoln cent collection is nearly complete and I already had several of the 1950-S. However, the one he brought is in excellent condition and it is better than the best I already had. So I gave him a fair price for the two pennies and added them to my hoard of wheat ears.
Don’t keep the fact you collect coins a secret. (This doesn’t mean you display them in the wrong context or with the wrong people, or leave them lying out in the open.) You will many times discover people who have a store of coins they don’t mind you searching through. They don’t save them as collectibles, but simply for the sake of saving a little money. My son throws coins into a container to spend on a “rainy day.” My brother-in-law has several containers of coins to which he adds his pocket change. For Christmas he was going to put rolls of coins in the stockings of his grandkids. So I volunteered to roll them as I searched through them, finding some new issues I was missing, as well as a handful of wheat ear pennies. (I keep all wheat ears, among some other coins that are automatic keepers.) At one time I purchased a gallon jar of pennies from a friend whose habit was also to put all their pennies there for future use.
Don’t overlook potential sources of finding coins. If people know you are a numismatist they just might allow you to look through their stashes of coins. Who knows, you may find one that has some real value.
Banking on an Upgrade
May 3rd
Just a follow-up on updating your collection: getting coins from the bank works. I went to the bank Saturday morning with paychecks for both my wife and myself. With my cash back I received rolls of three different coins and they added to my coin collections in three ways.
I took home two rolls of pennies. I could see the end cents in both rolls and I knew before unrolling them what I had gained. No, I did not find any wheat ear pennies, and I didn’t find anything of immediate or tremendous value. Both rolls were directly from the Denver mint and contained 2011-D Lincoln pennies. They are in perfect, uncirculated condition. No, I don’t need one hundred 2011-D pennies in my collection, but they will increase in value in the next few years. I store such finds for their future value.
The roll of nickels I got had no new nickels which I needed. My Jefferson nickel collection is complete except for the 1950-D issue and a few of the recent ones. I did, however, find a few upgrades in better condition, as well as some I put aside which are in near perfect condition.
The third type of coin I took home consisted of Washington quarters. This collection had been dormant for a few years until I started adding the state quarters, and now the national park quarters. So I am missing some from the nineties up to the start of the state quarters. I was able to find some of those I was missing.
Buying rolls of coins from the bank (really, receiving them as part of your cash back), is a great method of adding newer issues to your collections, or of beginning to collect certain coins. Sometimes you will be fortunate and find older coins mixed in. If you have a good relationship with the tellers at your bank, you can ask for rolls of new coins or rolls of older coins, depending on what you want to find. Good luck and good coin hunting.
