8,000 Wheaties

jimther

Elite Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2015
Messages
2,583
Location
Eastern Massachusetts
Hi all,

My brother owns a small diner and over the years has put aside all the Wheat cents that come through his cash register (about 2000, or $20 face value). In addition, he purchased about 6000 more Wheats at face value (about $60) from a lady who just wanted to get rid of them and said face value was fine.

He's asking me for advice on how best to sell off these 8000 or so Wheat cents, which probably have a huge mix of dates and conditions.

Any thoughts?

Jim
 
Last edited:
I would personally try to sell them on Ebay in 200-300 coin lots. But that just my opinion, good luck.
 
The LCS pays about 2c ea.
If you have the patience of a saint, and enjoy teeth-pulling, then ePay.
Personally I would go the Craigslist route, much less painfull.
Ive noticed anything over 4c ea. for common wheats will sit for a long time.
 
Tell him Ill give him 80$ for em :laughing: on a serious note, I would try Craigslist, if not there, eBay after. Someone will certainly buy them if the price is right. Maybe he could donate some of them to MTHA for future seeded hunts? I'd be willing to buy some and donate to the club for sure. I have alot of other stuff I could donate (colonial relics like flat buttons, musketballs, ox knobs&shoes, etc.) If you ever needed some targets for the hunt. Looking forward to October. Good luck!
 
If they are truely unsearched, I would spend a few hours and do a quick scan for any 1909, 14, 22, 31.
 
Have a local auction house? Bag up a few lots of 50 or 100, and try an auction if you can.
Interesting... There's an auctioneer in my MD club. Don't know if he'll handle something like this, but I will ask. Thanks Foragist!

I would personally try to sell them on Ebay in 200-300 coin lots. But that just my opinion, good luck.
My brother is not that tech, and I've been thinking about getting into eBay. Not sure if their fees would make sense for this kind of sale. hmmm. Thanks for suggesting. Have you done this yourself, with any success ?

The LCS pays about 2c ea.
If you have the patience of a saint, and enjoy teeth-pulling, then ePay.
Personally I would go the Craigslist route, much less painfull.
Ive noticed anything over 4c ea. for common wheats will sit for a long time.
Thanks amc rulz. Never did anything on Craigslist yet. From a lot of stories in the news, Craigslist transactions can quickly become dangerous if you're not careful.

Tell him Ill give him 80$ for em :laughing: on a serious note, I would try Craigslist, if not there, eBay after. Someone will certainly buy them if the price is right. Maybe he could donate some of them to MTHA for future seeded hunts? I'd be willing to buy some and donate to the club for sure. I have alot of other stuff I could donate (colonial relics like flat buttons, musketballs, ox knobs&shoes, etc.) If you ever needed some targets for the hunt. Looking forward to October. Good luck!
Thanks Jeff. Craigslist and eBay seem to be the most suggested routes so far. On another note, Thanks for the offer of MTHA Hunt donations. The lowest denomination we've ever seeded the beach with is a nickel, and for the time & labor involved in planting, not sure if our Hunt Master would go the "pennies too" route. I'll ask her about relic donations that you've offered. Also looking forward to October.

If they are truely unsearched, I would spend a few hours and do a quick scan for any 1909, 14, 22, 31.
Point noted. I'll mention that to my brother. Thanks Jim.

I agree with yacorie. Check for key dates...could be a small fortune in there
Thank you pryan67.
 
Thanks amc rulz. Never did anything on Craigslist yet. From a lot of stories in the news, Craigslist transactions can quickly become dangerous if you're not careful.
Based on my personal and friends and relative’s experiences, Craigslist is great. You hear about shady deals occasionally, but all one needs to do is use common sense (not common at all today!). I do my coin deals at my local Credit Union, some folks use the cop shop. I know lots of people that have buyers show up at their home, no problems. Usually, the buyer is the one carrying the cash anyway.

Ebay on the other hand, is horrible, and favors the buyer. You are more likely to get ripped off there than anywhere. I was ripped off of $150 (from a seller, actually) and don’t care for that auction site at all.
 
The LCS pays about 2c ea.
If you have the patience of a saint, and enjoy teeth-pulling, then ePay.
Personally I would go the Craigslist route, much less painfull.
Ive noticed anything over 4c ea. for common wheats will sit for a long time.

Whats LCS?
 
Based on my personal and friends and relative’s experiences, Craigslist is great. You hear about shady deals occasionally, but all one needs to do is use common sense (not common at all today!). I do my coin deals at my local Credit Union, some folks use the cop shop. I know lots of people that have buyers show up at their home, no problems. Usually, the buyer is the one carrying the cash anyway.

Ebay on the other hand, is horrible, and favors the buyer. You are more likely to get ripped off there than anywhere. I was ripped off of $150 (from a seller, actually) and don’t care for that auction site at all.

Thanks amc rulz. A safe place to conduct a transaction would be a MUST. Craigslist worth looking into.
Jim
 
Would you ship to Australia? I'd be interesting in buying a few hundred...

Hi sandgroper and thanks for your interest in "a few hundred" Wheaties.
Not sure what the shipping cost of a bunch of Wheat cents to Australia would be or the monetary transaction details, but shipping them would very likely cost way more than the actual value of the coins. Probably would need to be a PayPal transaction and not sure if my brother wants to start down that road. I'll mention it to him. I believe his preference is to find one buyer for the entire lot, versus piecemeal transactions.
Any forum readers have foreign transaction experience or suggestions for something like this?

Jim
 
Hi sandgroper and thanks for your interest in "a few hundred" Wheaties.
Not sure what the shipping cost of a bunch of Wheat cents to Australia would be or the monetary transaction details, but shipping them would very likely cost way more than the actual value of the coins. Probably would need to be a PayPal transaction and not sure if my brother wants to start down that road. I'll mention it to him. I believe his preference is to find one buyer for the entire lot, versus piecemeal transactions.
Any forum readers have foreign transaction experience or suggestions for something like this?

Jim

Tip: I know the USPS allows you to ship "numismatic collectibles" to Australia, but not if you call them "coins".
It's cheap to mail a 1oz envelope, but for a heavier package like this, you can look it up online. USPS price calculator.
 
Hi sandgroper and thanks for your interest in "a few hundred" Wheaties.
Not sure what the shipping cost of a bunch of Wheat cents to Australia would be or the monetary transaction details, but shipping them would very likely cost way more than the actual value of the coins. Probably would need to be a PayPal transaction and not sure if my brother wants to start down that road. I'll mention it to him. I believe his preference is to find one buyer for the entire lot, versus piecemeal transactions.
Any forum readers have foreign transaction experience or suggestions for something like this?

Jim

Yeah I'm looking at the USPS calculator (like Foragist said), and it ain't cheap to ship from America to Australia ($36 for 4lbs!?!). Didn't realise it would be that much. It's much cheaper to ship from Australia to America ($17 for 44lbs)
 
Thanks for the USPS info, guys.
Sandgroper: I guess you’ll have to get some wheaties on your next trip to the states, if it costs > $30 to ship ‘em 🤥
 
Ya know, it might be some fun for your Brother to sit and sift though that stack and just dink around with them for a while...get an idea if theres any key dates in that mess...then sell those to a Coin Collector in his area for top money and the rest of the commons at 3cents per...

Who knows? He may have a 1943 copper or a 1959 D mule wheatie in there? I'd take a look if I were him...He will at least be super entertained, get some numismatic knowledge, and have something to do for about a month of evenings...:?:
 
Back
Top Bottom