Wheat Pennies, What's The Big Deal?

I love finding wheat cents, better than memorials by far, to me.
I used to hunt more modern sites and a wheat cent was a very rare find for me, now that I hunt in older parks and lawns I find a lot more but each wheatie still makes me smile because I remember how rare they were for me in the old days.
So what that most aren't worth a lot, to each his own, what one person treasures can be totally different than another.

For some strange reason I also love finding old pocket knives and watch parts of any kind...even wrecked up pieces.
Most not worth anything at all but they are to me.
If I find one of these on any hunt that makes it special as far as I am concerned.

Not everything we find has to be super old, precious metal or have great worth on the marketplace to make us happy.
If people want to brag about finding a wheat cent good for them, having fun is what this hobby is about no matter what kind of treasure triggers that joy.

Hey, I was super happy to find my first wheat penny in Australia. I think I even dedicated a whole thread to that '46 penny!

DIGGER27 said:

I love finding wheat cents, better than memorials by far, to me.
I used to hunt more modern sites and a what cent was a very rare find for me, now that I hunt in older parks and lawns I find a lot more but each wheatie still makes me smile because I remember how rare they were for me in the old days.
So what that most aren't worth a lot, to each his own, what one person treasures can be totally different than another.

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Your situation reminds me of mine as well. In Australia, 1c and 2c coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1991, and as I live in a new area of Perth, I hardly ever found any. When I found an area close to us where I could find these coins, I took 'day trips' just to find these coins!

Nowadays I travel a lot more to older sites around Perth, so now I've got more than I can count!

X-Terra70 said:

Your situation reminds me of mine as well. In Australia, 1c and 2c coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1991, and as I live in a new area of Perth, I hardly ever found any. When I found an area close to us where I could find these coins, I took 'day trips' just to find these coins!

Nowadays I travel a lot more to older sites around Perth, so now I've got more than I can count!

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"Treasure is in the eye of the beholder".

View attachment 397761As someone that just got into the hobby maybe I can put a different spin on it for you. I remember as a kid my brother would collect coins a little and he would get a wheat in some change or something and I would think "cool but so, it's worth a penny" bare in mind at that time I could care less about further back in time than an hour so history didn't matter to me. As I got older I started to enjoy history watching documentaries and reading books. Then I got just curious about this hobby and watched a video or 2 thousand. The first find I saw was a wheat and seeing a 1933 penny found. Yep just a penny but that date alone signified some amazing history. It's old and it's uncommon. My 15 year old had never seen one, never realized they existed. I didn't start doing this hobby strictly for silver or even coins really. I started for one the stories that a single item could tell about an area, and for 2 for the absolute thrill of the hunt. I'm an avid outdoorsman. I've killed a few deer and I've caught a few fish and every time it happens weather it be horns that will be mounted or meat in the freezer it's an accomplishment and many of my piers or associates can't relate they can't or never have. The same weighs true here. Some people that are interested or even participating in this hobby have never had an area or opportunity to find a Wheatey. Now they might kill in clad or even jewelry but nothing old. Half here aren't as interested in the value as they are the history or the hunt. So to surmise, they are still exciting to some and worth seeing or noting.

People like finding them because they are no longer in circulation, have a cool reverse design and are old (pre-1959). Yeah there is a lot out there and I have found many but everyone is fun to me! Now a 1960 memorial! Blah! Seen that reverse design in change every day! Who cares about the lowly memorial, right?! But some day they will speak of copper memorials just like they do wheats! Never a zinc though!!

I guess I am the "Chevy Chase" of seeing a wheat after years of finding and saving wheats...I see it's a wheat, nod my head up and down 3 times, like he did at the Grand Canyon, and move on, EXCEPT for working around the spot I found it, for a possible silver.

Seven years of finding wheats has numbed me in their glory. The first ones gave bragging rights, but after that...they have become a mild interest. In a way, I personally feel a bit foolish to ever post a pic of wheats unless there was a cache, or it lead to a better coin.

As was previously stated though, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Thanks for the responses.

another viewpoint.... because there are no public spots that haven't been detected repeatedly for the last 40 years. Every wheat penny I find is one that was missed by countless others over the years and that gives me a big sense of accomplishment, its not the wheat penny, its that I found something that was lost 50+ years ago that countless others have missed.

For starters the wheatie at very least is a 59 year old coin with the majority of them reaching a hundred years old. Second, it was the first American coin to display a president on the obverse . It is a handsome coin and give a pretty distinct signal when detected. Not to mention there are those key dates you could find when rinsing away the crud, Thats a little iceing on the cake. Whats not to love about the wheatie, I'll dig them all day if I can find them. And one day soon they will become as treasured a find as the Indian head. Yes sir I do love them. Just my two wheaties. Mark

I love finding wheats, especially the 1914D and 1931S I've dug along the way.

I have only found 1 wheatie (1945), but boy was it a thrill! It was the only coin I found that day which makes it even more special. I hope to find many more in the hunts to come.

I just like the history of Abe especially his wit, so do enjoy the older wheat cent design....plus there are some key dates.

It kind of reminds me of when we were putting silver coins in the vending machines...could of been rich if we could of predicted a few things, I also think in future it will be liked.... like the IC is today to some degree.

Another thing to consider is that you can be sure wheat cents are before they used zinc, you heard of zincolns, but not zwheaties

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin)

from the link above -

The cent's composition was changed in 1982 because the value of the copper in the coin started to rise above one cent.[11] Some 1982 pennies used the 97.5% zinc composition, while others used the 95% copper composition. With the exception of 2009 bicentennial cents minted specifically for collectors, United States cents minted after 1982 have been zinc with copper-plating. In Fiscal Year 2013, the average one-cent piece minted cost the U.S. Mint 1.83 cents, down from 2.41 cents apiece in FY 2011.[12]

The bronze and copper cents can be distinguished from the newer zinc cents by dropping the coins on a solid surface. The predominantly copper coins produce a higher-pitched ringing sound, while the zinc coins make a lower-pitched "clunk".[13] In addition, a full 50-cent roll of pre-1982/3 coins weighs 5.4 oz compared to a post-1982–83 roll which weighs 4.4 oz.

Not much different than finding a silver dime with a value of what, 50¢ maybe? Or a small gold ring that melts at $15... as long as you’re having fun, that’s what it’s all about. Some post hunts with no goodies found and I don’t mind that, done it myself. I don’t find many wheat cents so finding one is kinda cool too.

I like them because they are a beautiful coin, in my eyes!

I was in the hobby back in the 1980's with a White 6000D. Hunted old one room schools and homesteads. Found over 30 Indian Head pennies and plenty of old silver. Will have to get them out and take a photo sometime.

Well, got back into the hobby about two months ago, first with an ACE 300 and now an AT PRO. Still hitting the same old schools with nothing to show for it. And hitting lots of old abandoned farmsteads. So far only found one coin in those places (plenty in parks) but it happened to be a 1917 (yep, 100 years old) Wheat penny on my grandfathers old home place. I can assure you that penny will always be special to me.

Mr. C said:

another viewpoint.... because there are no public spots that haven't been detected repeatedly for the last 40 years. Every wheat penny I find is one that was missed by countless others over the years and that gives me a big sense of accomplishment, its not the wheat penny, its that I found something that was lost 50+ years ago that countless others have missed.

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"its not the wheat penny, its that I found something that was lost 50+ years ago that countless others have missed."

That is indeed a feeling I share as well. Still though, digging up a high tone and just getting a Wheat these days, with not one silver at all, seems demeaning to me as far as bragging rights.

Certainly have gotten dulled out finding them over the years, when that penny was the day's "prize." Heck, when it comes to melt value, you can find lots and lots more of copper Memorials. We will have to hoard them until they discontinue the penny for melt anyway.

As far as the old date 50 years back...we don't make any deal about 1940s nickels and post. They're worth 5c and spendable

I think it's (generally speaking) more along the lines of the longer you've been detecting, the more you find, the less of a big deal it becomes.

I get a big a kick of a newbie finding them and posting about it, than I do finding them myself, because I know how it felt when I started detecting, ditto with digging lots of clad...still fun to do.

As mentioned, I'm more interested in the "era" than the Wheaties. Silver doesn't trip my trigger as much as it used to, unless it's Barber and before.

That said, I'll take Wheaties over nothing anyday.....and my last couple hunts, that's (Wheats) all that saved me

Martin_V3i said:

Don't many of us make a wheat find an overblown event though, post the find as a highlight of the day? Hunt comes to an end and some general dated wheat penny gets top billing. Metal detecting hobby looks silly enough to non detectors as it is. Aren't we all adding to their view when we holler about finding a wheat penny?

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Sometimes, for me, a wheat penny is the best find of the day. As can be seen in my tag line, I haven't found much silver - that's due to a combination of many things: lack of available swing time, choosing poor locations, inexperience, lower end machine, etc. I know I've made some posts where wheats were the best coin from the hunt. I share those hunts partially because it might be all I have to share for a week or two, but also because I like to think that it helps some of the other new detectorists to see that 1) most of us aren't finding silver on every hunt and 2) that's ok, 'cuz it's still fun. Personally, I don't care how silly it looks to non-detectorists - I'm not doing this to impress them. Let's be honest, the average non-detectorist isn't going to be any more impressed showing them a couple silver Rosie's or even a Washington along with those pennies. It still looks like about 47 cents to them.

Martin_V3i said:

So, except for wheats indicating a silver could be nearby, and they are somewhat older coins, but beyond that,,,what is the big deal?

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Martin_V3i said:

Seven years of finding wheats has numbed me in their glory. The first ones gave bragging rights, but after that...they have become a mild interest. In a way, I personally feel a bit foolish to ever post a pic of wheats unless there was a cache, or it lead to a better coin.

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I think that's the answer right there. For you, wheats have become mundane...ho hum, another wheat. Maybe after 7 years of detecting, I'll feel the same way, but I hope not. But what qualifies as mundane is really just a matter of perspective, in my view. I can very easily see somebody having the same perspective toward silver Rosie's - nothing really special about them, right? Looks pretty much the same as the rest of the dimes you get everyday, and worth maybe $2 max in melt, if you can actually get someone to buy it. You're not going to impress a non-MDer with the value of a Rosie, either, even if you're finding one every hour that you hunt. So why post a pic of a Rosie? Where do we draw the line on what's a mundane find and what's interesting? Obviously, it's in the eyes of the beholder.

For me, wheats are still fun. I don't feel foolish posting a pic of them if I have other non-coin finds of interest, because I know there are others within this community that can appreciate the history they represent. I'm not expecting heaps of accolades for finding a wheat penny when I make the post, just sharing the story of the hunt. Again, I don't care what a non-detectorist thinks. The thrill for me is unearthing older items that haven't seen the light of day for awhile - the overall dollar value doesn't necessarily provide the motivation and joy for me.

But, of course, that's just me...plenty of folks out there just dump their wheats into the coinstar with their Zincolns, if they even dug them at all. And that's ok, too!