Ok, so you know how frankies have the FBL thing. Are there collectors that check wheaties for full wheat lines when buying too? stainless
Full wheat lines come as standard equiptment on VF and better LIncolns, except for some of the notoriously bad 20's decade branchmint coins, and those weakly stuck/ worn die examples trade at a discount, best to be avoided.
Yeah. Stainless, I don't know that the bell lines are technically a "grading criteria." But the wheat lines are.
Yep Stainless, I vote for the full wheat lines also. When I am looking at two wheat cents with the same year and mint, which are nearly identical on the obverse, the best reverse with the fullest wheat lines gets my money. jeankay
Ok, So basically i will have FWL if it is VF or better...unless it is weakly struck. Now I know what to look for thanks for the help all stainless
yah kinda. Ive seen some VF wheats without Full wheat lines, but you seem to have the idea. are you starting a wheat set?
Kind of, I am colleting all small cents that are in the best condition that I can afford, I have been doing this for about a month now. I don't really have a planed out set yet though. stainless
Not exactly true, a 1926s, 1924 s or a 1922 P Lincoln for example, you will be very hard pressed to find any wheat lines at all. Some years the dies were just horrible, which is why some UNC examples really only look like a normal xf/au.
But it's generally true. When you grade Lincoln's that is one of the basic things to look at. However, I liken those mid-20s Lincoln's very much to the later 40s Walking Liberty. In this example, one of the grade diagnostics is Liberty's left arm being distinguishable from the background of her dress. However, many coins form the 1940s came from dies in such a bad state that even uncirculated coins don't have a distinguishable difference. Just like any coin, there are specific years that had terrible strikes and must be graded a bit differently. But, as a general rule, the wheat lines must be full to grade VF or better.
