Found a 1945D in change today!

Robert · Senior Member

I have a folder for wheaties found in circulation and an old album for pre-1960 Jeffersons found in change. Quite fun when I get to add a coin.

It's a VG-8 details but it's scratched behind L's head.

Still, I'll take it!

GarryN · Expert Member

I enjoy finding the occasional wheat cent in change. They all have been 1950 vintage or 1945-49 and usually I just return them into circulation so someone else might have some fun.

murphy · Senior Member

I've recently started to search through $50 bags of pennies that I get from the bank. Whenever I find a "wheatie" in there I pitch it into a plastic wide-mouth jug. When it gets full I'll search through them for RPM's & DD's. Before pitching I can't resist looking at the date in case it says 1909-s vdb. So far no luck with that particular one, but I did find a 1913-s in VF-20 condition. The RedBook value is $14. I put it in a Whitman folder that I plan to sell on EBay when it gets filled up. Eventually after I've gone through them all and have used all that I can, I'll bag up what's left and deposit them at the bank. Maybe I can pass on something to you that you can use in your album. Smile

NWDave · New Member

Recently, I was at a little corner store, and in the take-a-penny/leave-a-penny dish I spotted a wheat cent. The shop owner said I could have it if I swapped another coin for it. Turns out that it was a 1913-D in Fine. About a year ago I found an 1864 bronze in a roll from the bank. You just never know where the next good find might turn up!

coop · Expert Member

Welcome Aboard NW Dave. Glad to see your posting. Its a lot of reading covering the forum, but it is probably the best reading on Lincoln Cents around. All share what they know and all learn even those doing the teaching. Great to have you along.

wavysteps2003 · Expert Member

As gold prices soar, followed closely by silver prices, reminiscent of the days when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market, little has been mentioned about the "other" metal used in our coins. Yes, copper; it jumped $20.00 per hundred pounds yesterday to a high of $347.00.

So what does that mean to us as collectors of this type coin. Well first; the Lincoln cent that was minted prior to 1982 (yes and some that were minted in that year) are now worth a face value of .0223 cents each in metal content alone. So, i got a 1000 of them, $10.00, right?. No, $22.30 now. 100,00 then; $2230.00 now. 1,000,000 then; 22,300.00 now, or how about a melt down for a monetary gain of about $10,000. Granted, who is going to sort through 1,000,000 Lincoln cents and sort them? Well MACHINES can and will do it very cheaply. How high will copper have to go before there is a mass melt down of Lincoln cents? 0.025 cents, 0.03 cents? Or are we at that point?

Unfortunety, I was not collecting coins at the time of the Hunt brothers year's, however, I do realize that a lot of silver and I imagine gold coins that had a numismatic value much, much higher than the lofty melt down prices of those years were inadvertently tossed into a fiery death for the price of the meat that they contained. Will we see that happen again as all three metals that are used in our coinage creep forever upwards?

Secondly; lets say that it is worth your while to melt down large quantity of Lincoln cents. That creates a shortage in a system that still uses that type coin. Therefore the government must produce more to make up for the shoratge, which in turn will increase the price of copper, which will lead to more melting, in other words -SNOWBALL EFFECT.

Thirdly; If copper prices become to high (now boardering at that point) it will cost to much to produce the Lincoln cent and it will disappear from circulation even before the year 2009.

Whether all these or in fact any will happen is pure speculation on my part. However, they are points to ponder for it very well may happen. There are more than a few out there that would love to see the demise of the Lincoln cent; we might be just seeing the begining of the end.

Regards to all,

WAVYSTEPS2003

Bob P · Site Admin

I think that the current composition of cents (mostly zinc) is still cost effective for the government to continue minting the coin. The amount of copper used is minuscule compared to pre 1982. If the death of the cent is to come, I tend to think it will not be because of the metals used, but rather other financial considerations Either way, the cent will not be discontinued before 2009. The centennial of the Lincoln cent is going to be a BIG deal...especially in Washington DC.
People like the cent...better than the Susan B's and Sacagawea's. What would we do without them???