I made a wheatie purchase that I have always dreamed of.

[hasfam]

I've bought wheats by the roll and by the bag in the past, but of course its always obvious that these are searched. There maybe lost leaders or primers but for the money not a whole lot. I have dreamed of finding a hoard of wheats that nobody has gone thru and I found it today. A gentleman contacted me a couple of weeks ago and said he inherited 4 bags of wheats and was I interested in buying them. We exchanged a few emails then we spoke on the phone a couple nights ago. Apparently, Some guy ran a funeral parlor in west tennessee during the 30's, 40's & 50's and threw all his pennies from where ever into a container. He died in 1989 and a guy bought the wheats at the estate sale. Then that guy died last year and his nephew and nieces are taking care of his estate. One of the nephews got the pennies about 5 months ago. None of these people are coin collectors. The guys wife told him to get the pennies out of the house so he searched craaigslist and my ad came up...buying wheat pennies. Anyway, I met him this morning and offered him $500 cash for the 4 full bank bags and he took it. (i knew his wife wanted them gone). Before I made the transaction though I scooped a handful up to look and right on top was a mint red 1942-D. Thats all I had to see. Well I raced home and cleared the dining room table and dumped them all out. I'm sorting them now. I couple of things I have noticed. These coins are mostly without grime. They have a coating in a sense but lack the dirt and grime. 2nd, The details are unbelievable. Needle sharp on so many, even from the 30's and 20's. Most of these coins are grading XF to AU. I've only gone thru a couple of hundred and have already found my 1911-S VG. I've filled a large cigar box of steelies, some brilliant and there are a lot more. I'm going to OD on wheats this weekend.
Rock

[MorgansRmine]

Nice pick up Rock. I buy wheat rolls from the public and have found every coin and mint from 1909 to 1958. Still missing the 55DDO but managed to buy the 72 at a real decent price. Keep it up.

[Bob P]

What a great deal Rock. If you get tired of searching those bad boys....I will be happy to take them off your hands
Seriously...keep us informed of the great finds I am sure you will have.

[eagames]

Take it slow so the fun lasts.

I'm sure you'll find some big ones in that lot

[Dick]

Rock, you have proved the old adage, that if one waits long enough, their dream will come true! Looks like yours just did! copngrats, and HAPPY HUNTING!
Dick

[hasfam]

Thanks guys. My wife deserves my thanks for letting me get the pennies too. We just don't have an extra 500 dollars laying around, but she saw what a great opportunity it was and supported me with it.

I'm also excited because even if there are no big key dates or any big buck varieties found, I'm almost certain that I will be able to start and complete an entire Dansco 1909-1958 in XF45-AU55 condition except for the big 5 key dates and maybe the teens which all seem to be coming in at VG8 to F20.

Finally, I'm really finding out how wonderful and useful it is having Chuck's book next to me while I sort and search these coins. I'm finding that the book is much more than just a list of key varieties, but it talks about the varied attributes for each year of the series which really helps. Anyway Chuck, if you read this post, I want to thank you for your hard work putting out such a great book and for such a reasonable price.
Rock

[eagames]

You can't go wrong.

If you search them you can sell the unwanted ones to dealers at their bulk buy price and get most or all of your money back. If they give 2 cent's you get $400 back. You may get more.

[hasfam]

a pic of the loot. it almost covers the entire table. I'm taking my time, savoring every moment. First look is to seperate by date. 2nd look for varieties, 3rd look for personal collection. This could take months.....
Rock

[Dick]

Rock, you have a 'well set table"! I'll offer my way of gouing thru them, with one note. The three boxes will give you the 50's, 40's, 30'd, all mints, and another box will cover the teens, and 20's. you might have a dish for "misc". handy, but this setup will give you a huge start on them, and thr solid date, and Mint rolls. It works for me!

Enjoy,
Dick

[hasfam]

that's a pretty cool setup Dick. I basically sort 1st by decade into smaller piles then move the piles back into bank bags. \then i take a decade and sort by date, etc. It's a longer process but it allows me to actually look at each coin about 3 times and less gets missed. I Read Chuck's method for sorting and it's the same way we sorted cases of baseball cards when we owned a baseball card shop in california 20 some years ago.
It really is a good way to sort a large quantity but for now I'll just stick ti the way I started. I am going to need som tubes I think.
Rock

[GarryN]

Dont forget to check for the 1910 VDB. Here is an interesting link.

http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/soltaylor051008.html


I would hold all teen cents until you determnine that they are not matte proofs. Just a thought.

[Dick]

Rock, Yes, I imagine you will nee many tubes, at least four boxes, (of square tubes, in my case). I hope the dining table holds up, under all thart weight, (about 140 pounds)!
GarryN, yes, it would be a verty good idea. I don't believe I have ever seen a "Matte proof", and if I have, it sure didn't register!
Dick

[hasfam]

Interesting article. I read a little about it in Chuck's book as well. I guess my question would be, if the V.D.B was suppose to be removed and not used and was removed, but a "shadow" appears with tilting light and some imagination with it, can the coin really be said to have a V.D.B.? Regardless, I'll check them all. I'm about 1/2 way thru the 1st sort by decade and i've pulled about a doz 1910's so far. I plan on keeping all the teens for now but as far as Matte proofs, I'm like Dick, I've never seen one that I know of and wouldn't know it if I saw it. Almost all of the teens I've pulled wouldn't grade higher than VF20-25 ecxept for a couple and don't look like proofs. Some of them are real mushy too.
Thanks for the advice.
Rock

[KurtS]

Wow!
Now that's a genuine "unsearched hoard" of wheaties. You don't find those on eBay. I look forward to hearing more about what you find.

[Dick]

I hear you, Kurt! That is a ting of beauty!

Rock, the difference in your method, and mine, is like my way of enjoying something I like, such as fruit cake, for example. My mom used to bake them in coffee cans, and send them to me while on Guam, durung the WWII. I would enjoy a piece when it came in, and "nibble" at it as time went on. it usually lasted a month! my coin sorting/searching is the same thing. I like to enjoy the "taste" of things.
Dick