What would you pay for a completed set of Wheat Pennies?

Okay Sully, here's the breakdown, at least as far as what I would do:

In the set you describe in your original post, I wouldn't even look at the listing after reading this much of a description. Those are way too common, already have these in my set, so I wouldn't want them. So I would pay $0.00 for this set.

Assuming you have all the keys and semi-keys, this changes the game a little. If those coins are raw and ungraded, maybe $100-$300, depending on condition. Why? Depends on the venue. If you're offering them in the BST forum here, I don't know you, can see only pictures that I cannot verify as the actual coins, and am taking a chance that the keys are not fake and you may actually send me the coins. In addition, I have no recourse if you did indeed screw me over (not saying you would, but again, I'm not very trusting of an anonymous internet poster). Then I have to dispose of the extraneous coins in the set that didn't want, so I'll need to sell them at price point to at least break even on those. So you'll get a low offer here.

If you decide to list on Craig's List or similar venue, the only difference in the BST scenario is we could meet and I could examine the coins in hand. Depending on condition (you did say "G4 or better") and whether I can verify the authenticity of the keys, I may offer a little better price, but I'm still taking a chance so don't expect anywhere near Red Book, closer to $500-$600. As in the other scenario, without the keys I wouldn't even respond to the ad.

If you decide to post them on eBay, again, I may go a little higher, maybe $600 for the set assuming the keys are there, because I at least have some recourse through PayPal should you decide to screw me, or weren't accurate in pictures and descriptions. You feedback score is low, which is another red flag for that venue. Without the keys, I would not even respond to the ad.

Now, assuming you have the keys graded and certified, it changes the game but only a little. Again, I would only be offering a price for the set in line with the keys, and assume the other coins are included for free (this is the same in all these scenarios). Again, pricing would be more in line with 50-60% of Red Book value. I would probably offer somewhere south of Grey Sheet value. I can guarantee I would not exceed either value.

Again, profit depends on the difference between buy and sell prices (we'll not complicate this by factoring in overhead). Keep in mind that a savvy buyer will know, and base his offer, on the actual value of the items. What you actually paid for the items is irrelevant. I run into this at flea markets all the time, where the seller says something like "I can't take that offer, I have more than that into it". I'm not paying for the mistake you made in overpaying for the item in the first place.

So you see, there is no cut and dry answer to your question. There are too many variables to tell you that the set is worth $XXX.00.

 

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And we'll be as clear as we can be:

A full set is probably $1,000, or more.

there am I still unclear?

your set? Who knows.

And as for "what would you pay" (what would I pay?)

nada, nil, zip, naught, nothing, zero, less than anything.

 

If the set was MS64 you'd be around 20K. At G-VF you're about 5-10% of that. The ones you're missing are where the main value is. With those missing, what you have isn't very valuable at all. You might consider abandoning this project and putting your money into something more substantial. You can forget about the plain 22 and the DD55, unless you're into errors and varieties. Check ebay, full sets come up occasionally and most don't sell. Here's pretty much what you're trying for http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEARLY-COMP...995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2803e61853 Add the SVDB and you're around $1000.