Hobo's Pennies

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Today I stopped at a convenience store to buy a pop. When I stepped up to the counter to pay, a homeless man came to the counter and started counting his change. It looked like he had been out in the wild for some time. Really dirty. It was clear he had a meager amount of money on him. Coins only. In his pile, there seemed to be a lot of old copper, so I asked him: "Hey man, can I buy your pennies?". "Sure" he said and pulled even more coins from his other pocket. I didn't count them. I just laid down four quarters and figured I gave him more than he gave me. Maybe that would help him out. I scooped up his pennies and out the door I went. When I got home, I sanitized the coins and everything they came into contact with!

Here is what I got for a dollar:

1946 Wheat - 1
1952 D Wheat - 2
1959 to 1981 coppers - 30
1982 D - 4
1983 to present zincs - 50
1971 Canadian New Penny - 1

88 coins total with 43% copper! I need to get my electronic hand-held microscope hooked back up so I can look for errors, flaws, and cherry pick!

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[Robarons]

Kinda cool you found wheats in the pile!

It hit me a few days ago I have not found a wheat penny in my change in 2 years. Its funny how when you have all the free time and the copper penny hobby to a full fledged busy lifestyle you lose track of these things. I understand completely now merc dimes, buffalo nickels and wheats get out

[Recyclersteve]

For a minute I thought you were referring to RC member HoboFinds from Tucson...

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Kinda cool you found wheats in the pile!

It hit me a few days ago I have not found a wheat penny in my change in 2 years. Its funny how when you have all the free time and the copper penny hobby to a full fledged busy lifestyle you lose track of these things. I understand completely now merc dimes, buffalo nickels and wheats get out

The color of some of the pennies is what motivated me about buying them. They had almost a "red cent" hue to them. I knew there was copper in that pile, just not how much. And yeah, finding those three wheaties, especially the '46, was an extra bonus! Here it is 2018 and we are still finding coins that should have fallen out of circulation decades ago.

My granddaughter may have stumbled upon a real treasure last week. She brought me a WWII steel penny that looks like the word "LIBERTY" is a mis-strike. The "L" is missing. I gotta get that microscope hooked up to better see what happened. Who knows? It might be worth a tidy sum. What a way to get her started on coin collecting & hoarding!

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

For a minute I thought you were referring to RC member HoboFinds from Tucson...

I didn't think about that. Sorry HoboFinds!

[Recyclersteve]

Kinda cool you found wheats in the pile!

My granddaughter may have stumbled upon a real treasure last week. She brought me a WWII steel penny that looks like the word "LIBERTY" is a mis-strike. The "L" is missing. I gotta get that microscope hooked up to better see what happened. Who knows? It might be worth a tidy sum.

The steel pennies that are really worth something are the 1943's that are made of copper instead of steel and the 1944's that are made of steel instead of copper. I'd use a magnet to verify these since I imagine there are counterfeits out there. I saw several of these on display at a big coin show about 10 years ago. The collector had both copper 43's and steel 44's. I believe they were worth something like a million or more each!

Regarding the coin you are talking about if you Google "1943 ghost penny" you will see quite a few results with parts of the design missing. One that seems to be fairly common is the number 4, so the date just says "19 3". Depending on condition, I'm guessing these could sell for perhaps $2 to $20 on eBay and elsewhere. The key thing is trying to find a buyer. That is the hard part. Not many people collect that sort of thing. One thing that would be pretty cool (and perhaps valuable though still tough to sell) would be completing a set with each of the letters missing. So, coin #1 has the "L" missing. Coin #2 has the "I" missing. And so forth. That would likely be a set that could easily take many years to complete. And you wouldn't want to tell a potential seller what you are trying to do before they sell you their coin. Otherwise, they might refuse to sell it or they could raise the price quite a bit. If your granddaughter could find a dealer who has a large quantity of steel cents, she might spend a few hours in the shop going through all of them to find various missing parts of Liberty and/or 1943. This might get her interested in the hobby. Then, when she is done, she might have something that could be sold for a decent profit- again to the right person.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Kinda cool you found wheats in the pile!

My granddaughter may have stumbled upon a real treasure last week. She brought me a WWII steel penny that looks like the word "LIBERTY" is a mis-strike. The "L" is missing. I gotta get that microscope hooked up to better see what happened. Who knows? It might be worth a tidy sum.

The steel pennies that are really worth something are the 1943's that are made of copper instead of steel and the 1944's that are made of steel instead of copper. I'd use a magnet to verify these since I imagine there are counterfeits out there. I saw several of these on display at a big coin show about 10 years ago. The collector had both copper 43's and steel 44's. I believe they were worth something like a million or more each!

Regarding the coin you are talking about if you Google "1943 ghost penny" you will see quite a few results with parts of the design missing. One that seems to be fairly common is the number 4, so the date just says "19 3". Depending on condition, I'm guessing these could sell for perhaps $2 to $20 on eBay and elsewhere. The key thing is trying to find a buyer. That is the hard part. Not many people collect that sort of thing. One thing that would be pretty cool (and perhaps valuable though still tough to sell) would be completing a set with each of the letters missing. So, coin #1 has the "L" missing. Coin #2 has the "I" missing. And so forth. That would likely be a set that could easily take many years to complete. And you wouldn't want to tell a potential seller what you are trying to do before they sell you their coin. Otherwise, they might refuse to sell it or they could raise the price quite a bit. If your granddaughter could find a dealer who has a large quantity of steel cents, she might spend a few hours in the shop going through all of them to find various missing parts of Liberty and/or 1943. This might get her interested in the hobby. Then, when she is done, she might have something that could be sold for a decent profit- again to the right person.

There are so many documented errors out there now, how do you keep up with them all? I have gotten to the point I don't spend coins at all until I have looked carefully at them. (and I have jars - and bags- full of coins waiting on me) I was already aware of the copper '43 and steel '44, but I had no idea there were so many errors in steel pennies. You are so right about finding buyers, too.

I am slowly making progress with her on the value of coins. She is coming around. Thanks for all the great info!

[Recyclersteve]

No sweat. Most errors have little value, so I don't get too hung up on looking for many of them. I figure that a $2 or $5 coin that would be hard for me to sell can go to someone else instead.