Will it ever be worth melting wheats?

[biglouddrunk]

I'm just curious if any thinks the copper price will ever be high enough that it would make since to melt common wheats? Of course after the melt ban is lifted. Although the copper price is close now I would suppose the price of wheats would rise also. We do know many silver quarters and dimes are melted.

[VWBEAMER]

Without a doubt, just a matter of when....BTW, I don't get the attraction to wheat pennies anyway, they made millions most years and billions some years.

I just don't see the collector value in a coin that they made a Billion of....just me.

http://www.coin-collecting-guide-for-beginners.com/lincoln-penny.html

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

I'm just curious if any thinks the copper price will ever be high enough that it would make since to melt common wheats? Of course after the melt ban is lifted. Although the copper price is close now I would suppose the price of wheats would rise also. We do know many silver quarters and dimes are melted.

I don't think so. Wheaties command a good premium now. Of course, you never know.

[Number21]

Whats the going price for a bag of wheats these days? I used to just throw them in with the rest of my copper until I found this website...now I've got a growing jar of them....

[Snake42]

I buy a bag of 50 face for 200 and consider it a good buy.

[VWBEAMER]

That's only 4 cents ea, if people don't think regular copper pennies will get to that point, why even collect?

I buy a bag of 50 face for 200 and consider it a good buy.

[pennypicker]

I remember back in 1970 my 6th grade teacher was paying .15 cents for any mercury dime and .11 cents for any silver rosie. I also had an adult neighbor who was also paying .15 each for merc's and wasn't buying silver rosies.. At that time you could still find silver rosies in change and every once in a while you would find a merc. These two people were paying a 50% premium for mercs not for their metal content but because of their different and older design in the hopes that this older and different design would bring a large premium some day. Now with the vast increase in the price of silver the value of a merc over a rosie is negligible at best. Some dealers, including my local dealer, charges NO premium over rosies for common date, average circulated merc's.

Both my teacher and neighbor made bad choices in the regard that the .15 merc now has the same value as the .11 rosie or the .10 rosie that they could have found in change.

Point being is the wheat back will take the same path. When copper reaches a certain point the wheat and Lincoln cu memorial will sell for equal value. Some sellers will ask only a negligible premium for '40 - '58 wheats. Only the value of the copper in both coins, regardless of the different reverse designs, will be of importance to buyers.

Anyone today who is buying two cu memorials instead of one wheat for the same price will be very glad they did years from now. Why? History always repeats itself and I never forgot what happened to my teacher and neighbor .

Future prediction: Years from now Lincoln cu memorials will sell for .10 cents each on ebay. At that same time 1940 to 1958 wheats will sell for .10 to .11 cents each. Pre '40 wheats will sell for .12 cents and up depending on the date.

[VWBEAMER]

Amen...

[Pennybug]

I remember back in 1970 my 6th grade teacher was paying .15 cents for any mercury dime and .11 cents for any silver rosie. I also had an adult neighbor who was also paying .15 each for merc's and wasn't buying silver rosies.. At that time you could still find silver rosies in change and every once in a while you would find a merc. These two people were paying a 50% premium for mercs not for their metal content but because of their different and older design in the hopes that this older and different design would bring a large premium some day. Now with the vast increase in the price of silver the value of a merc over a rosie is negligible at best. Some dealers, including my local dealer, charges NO premium over rosies for common date, average circulated merc's.

Both my teacher and neighbor made bad choices in the regard that the .15 merc now has the same value as the .11 rosie or the .10 rosie that they could have found in change.

Point being is the wheat back will take the same path. When copper reaches a certain point the wheat and Lincoln cu memorial will sell for equal value. Some sellers will ask only a negligible premium for '40 - '58 wheats. Only the value of the copper in both coins, regardless of the different reverse designs, will be of importance to buyers.

Anyone today who is buying two cu memorials instead of one wheat for the same price will be very glad they did years from now. Why? History always repeats itself and I never forgot what happened to my teacher and neighbor .

Future prediction: Years from now Lincoln cu memorials will sell for .10 cents each on ebay. At that same time 1940 to 1958 wheats will sell for .10 to .11 cents each. Pre '40 wheats will sell for .12 cents and up depending on the date.

That sounds about right to me!

Another way to look at this question is to consider do people currently melt Morgan dollars? There are LOTS of silver coins that have been melted over the years... but some of them I believe will remain simply due to the respect that collectors have for those coins... I could be wrong and probably am... but I don't think many Morgans have been melted over the years... otherwise they would be worth A LOT more. As for washington quarters... I think they will be worth a good bit in about 30 yrs or so once everyone realizes that they are SUPER rare since they were melted like butter for about 20 yrs there. I think wheats will fall into the category with the Morgans.

[VWBEAMER]

Estimated 40% of Morgans have been melted.

Source-
http://coins.silvercoinstoday.com/silver-morgan-dollars/

[pennypicker]

Estimated 40% of Morgans have been melted.

Source-
http://coins.silvercoinstoday.com/silver-morgan-dollars/

Yes 40% of the Morgans were melted as a direct result of The Pittman Act of 1918. That is common knowledge. What isn't common knowledge and much more interesting to me is how many pre-'21 Morgans were melted during the silver run of 1980?

[aristobolus]

I remember back in 1970 my 6th grade teacher was paying .15 cents for any mercury dime and .11 cents for any silver rosie. I also had an adult neighbor who was also paying .15 each for merc's and wasn't buying silver rosies.. At that time you could still find silver rosies in change and every once in a while you would find a merc. These two people were paying a 50% premium for mercs not for their metal content but because of their different and older design in the hopes that this older and different design would bring a large premium some day. Now with the vast increase in the price of silver the value of a merc over a rosie is negligible at best. Some dealers, including my local dealer, charges NO premium over rosies for common date, average circulated merc's.

Both my teacher and neighbor made bad choices in the regard that the .15 merc now has the same value as the .11 rosie or the .10 rosie that they could have found in change.

Point being is the wheat back will take the same path. When copper reaches a certain point the wheat and Lincoln cu memorial will sell for equal value. Some sellers will ask only a negligible premium for '40 - '58 wheats. Only the value of the copper in both coins, regardless of the different reverse designs, will be of importance to buyers.

Anyone today who is buying two cu memorials instead of one wheat for the same price will be very glad they did years from now. Why? History always repeats itself and I never forgot what happened to my teacher and neighbor .

Future prediction: Years from now Lincoln cu memorials will sell for .10 cents each on ebay. At that same time 1940 to 1958 wheats will sell for .10 to .11 cents each. Pre '40 wheats will sell for .12 cents and up depending on the date.

This story is priceless. It has actually given me impetus to sell most of my wheats. I remember holding on to my 1960s/70s baseball card collection back in the late eighties because "some day they will be worth alot of money". Problem is they have devalued since then for a variety of reasons. In the same way, if copper itself becomes more pricier (probably due to a devalued dollar), I can definately see Lincoln copper memorials selling at near parity with wheats.

I am going to reprint this story on the Nickel and Silver/Gold Threads; anecdotes like this are worthy reading! Thank you.

[Gamecock]

I've been thinking all along that I should sell off the wheats and buy more rolls to sort.

[eric273]

Thats a Lot artibous

[Rosco]

I

Anyone today who is buying two cu memorials instead of one wheat for the same price will be very glad they did years from now. Why? History always repeats itself and I never forgot what happened to my teacher and neighbor .
.

OK what happened to them ??