Is $2.30 a good price for a wheat cent roll?

I know I've got a lot to learn about grading . . . (and it's a tangent from the real story that someone actually found that!! what a story!) . . . but what makes it XF-40?

General standards I find all over say this:

VF20 Very Fine Cheek and jaw bones worn but separated. No worn spots on wheat heads. EF40 Extremely Fine Slight wear. All details sharp.
And, frankly, I don't see a whole lotta separation between the jaw and cheek. Yeah, yeah, I know the main thing is the date, but I'm trying to learn where I can.

Can someone enlighten me on the XF-40 on this?

 

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Bad news! The seller no longer has any for sale. I am pretty upset...

 

Sorry 'bout that.

 

Anybody have any they are selling?

 

You could check out ebay, but buying in small quantities such as you were looking at will probably cost you over 10 cents per coin... not to mention the "unsearched" wheat cents are as unsearched as a childs house on Easter Sunday.

 

I just went through 12 rolls of "unsearched" wheaties yesterday. I'd say most were in the F to G range, and few (less than 10) might hit VF. Found 8 IHCs and 5 steelies, in the same condition. Some had fantastic dremel marks or 30 grit sandpaper marks. Found no 09s, and the 1910-1939s amounted to about 25%, the rest were 40s and 50s. I basicially just sorted them by year, and haven't looked for key or semi-key dates, or errors; but, I don't expect to find any.

I'd say it's about what I expected, I just wanted to fill holes in the Dansco for now, and replace them with better examples as they come along.

 

There are still some unsearched wheat's but they about gone!

$2.50 is not bad for a retail price. We try and get them for 3 cents each and move them on down the line at 4 cents in this part of the world - they are not rare at all!
There are still some unsearched wheat's but they about gone! None from dealers are unsearched. For a dealer it's just another commodity like bread and milk.
If you find a little old man, (or woman) who really claims that they or their heir put them away in the mid to late fifties they may be really unsearched but that will be getting rarer and rarer as time goes on and the dates for those are going to primarily be from 1934 and up with a few teens and 20's not mint marked and an occasional 1911, 1910 -P.
I go through a couple thousand each month and hardly ever get surprised at all - I mean let's face it when we were kids in the 1950's we were searching for 14-D and 09-S then and never found one. How many hands have they been through in the last fifty years alone?

 

You are 100% correct. I usually read the unsearched wheat cent descriptions on ebay just for the amusement. Many claim to have bought them from a giant hoard, or an elderly man who has collected them for decades, or their husband croaked and they "don't have the time to search through them"...yeah a second time! Then there are the ones trying to pay for college tuition or saving for their kid's college. I'm more likely to give a handout to someone telling the truth. Just say it, you need beer money! And stop selling coins by the pound, unless it is junk silver.

 

I'm from Canada and the only U.S. cents I was getting was what I found in coin rolls or in the till at work until a coin-dealer friend said he had a pile of them just sitting in his vault. I bought over 2500 pre-1960 U.S. cents for $75.00 (he threw in a couple of extra handfuls because he went by weight) and 5,000 plus at face value. It was a good deal. There weren't key dates but there were a lot of really nice ones (possible MS) and some errors. With what I bought there are just a few dates and mints that I'm missing. It was a really good way to kick-start my lincoln collection. Hope you have the same luck.

 

The 22-D Lincoln's are well known for poor strike and over-used dies. In the case of the plain with strong reverse, most of the grading consideration is based on the reverse since the rev dies were fresh. The first indicator is the full wheat lines, some call most any wheat with full lines EF, but that's not really the case. I've seen many VF coins also have full wheat lines.

On the obverse there's clear separation between the cheek and jaw, which comes somewhat into play as well in judging the wear, even though the obverse die was worn. The trick is differentiating die wear from physical wear and it takes a good bit of experience to accurately grade the branch mint Lincolns.

PCGS also considers the over "look" of the coin, is it problem-free and attactive. That can definately effect the final grade. In the case of this coin, I totally agree with the PCGS grade.

 

BadThad: a very nice and nicely detailed explanation. I really appreciate it, thanks!

 

With the coming of Spring and many flea markets are starting to boom, you should try them for those Wheat Cents.

 

I see ValleyCoin is selling mixed wheats at $8.50 per pound (here)

Now, at 3.11g/cent, wouldn't that work out to about 145 pennies? That's under $3 per roll.

Folks, anyone here know the dealer standard for copper small cents in a pound?

 

You don't have to specifically look at the dates to know that if they are all wheat cents then they must be between 09 and 58. But I do agree that there is no such thing as unsearched wheat cents anymore. In the last 50-100 years they've all been searched many scores of times.

 

Your math appears to be correct. I think dealers go by the same pound everyone else uses (454 grams).