Wheat cents are by far the most economical and historically significant coins to collect. They opened the doors to many new collectors and that may be a result of being economical. You can fill many album spaces with coins that cost no more than a few dollars. In addition they are extremely popular so buying and selling comes with ease. I personally enjoy collecting wheat cents because they have gone through much of the us history such as, both world wars, the great depression and many other significant events. The popularity of wheat cents has landed them much publicity. Taking the 1909 s VDB wheat cent for example, it was ranked a respectable nineteenth in the top hundred greatest coins third edition, due to its high collector base. Wheat cents will always play a significant role in the realm of numismatics.
It sure will, it was one of the first series I jumped into in my infancy. Just wait until you branch out your collecting habits into grade collecting, varieties (RPMs, Doubled Dies, OMMs, etc.). Then the series will look a whole lot bigger!
I too started in wheats because they were readily available, but I consider my real start to be Indian Head cents. Used to buy them in a Coin / Stamp store in dumpy mall in Windham, Maine when I was 8ish. I then branched out to ASE and buffalo and a few other things before taking a LONG break.
They are a great way to start collecting, and I'm sure that a large number of collectors started that way. In the same way, the statehood quarters started many a coin collection.
As already mentioned, many collectors started with the wheaties. I have 20 books with wheaties in them and many more in rolls. They are fun to collect and you can still find some in circulation although they are getting harder to find each year.
It isn't just the collectors. It seems that every man has a penny jar. I only notice woman using cents from their purse.
I'm not sure how "economical" wheat cents are, seeing as the keys to the series are far more common than many of the most common pieces in other series, yet their values are often three times that of key and semi-key pieces of other series. I think the popularity of the series has made it the most un-economical set to collect of all the US issues.
I agree their popularity has made their premiums soar on some dates, but a majority of the dates in the series can be acquired relatively cheap.
LoL. I wish. I spent over a year (at 3 hours a night, 2 or 3 times a week) sorting through the tin cans of coins of one inheritance from a female relative. Every coin type you could think of from 1898 to 2011. Mostly pennies though. Got real familiar with pennies and Jef nickels by the time I was done.