Looking to purchase Wheat pennies for my nephews

[beez0404]

Hi guys,

I have two nephews ages 5 and 4 and I want to put together a wheat penny album for each of them. I started metal detecting in January with the hopes of finding the necessary Wheaties to fill their albums. I figure at the rate I'm going it could take me 30 years to find enough to do the job. Please bear in mind I'm old, on a fixed budget, and not buying for resale. So if anyone has an abundance of wheat pennies they have no sentimental attachment to please send me a PM.

Thanks for your consideration and for looking.

Jay

 

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[signal]

well, if they are 4 and 5, I suggest Coin Roll Hunting. It will cost you exactly .01 per wheatie and the kids will enjoy it, its a good way to spend some time with them. Basically goto your bank, and ask them for penny rolls. If they have none, you can order some. $100 will get you 10,000 pennies. You will find wheaties in 10,000 pennies I promise. When your done, either re-roll them or if your bank has a coin counter you can drop them there. Since you just want wheats, you can just have the kids flip them all over and look for the wheat symbol…….make a game out of it to see who can find the most wheats, and when its over split them up.

Of course, you can just go many places and buy wheat cents, and many aren't expensive at all if you don't care about the condition, but I find CRH is fun.

You are also likely to find some other weird items like foreign coins which the kids will think is really cool, and you never know, you could find an indian head or something very interesting.

I recommend not filling up the album instantly by purchasing the wheats, because then the game is over, and its just an album to look at. having empty spaces keeps the goal open, keeps them interested and constantly searching mom and dads change………..its the journey not the destination. When/if they do fill up wheats, then just buy them more folders, maybe modern cents, or nickels, or whatever. At age 4 and 5 they will find filling up an album with P and D mint marks of modern cents just as interesting, as it can get quite challenging to find the ones you need. Also it will force them to use a magnifier to see the mint marks clearly, which will make them notice other strange things about some coins such as errors or interesting damage……………..best of luck, there is a CRH forum on here that can help you with tips on coin roll hunting if you need.

 

[Gold Maven]

That's great, giving the youngsters a taste of a hobby that doesn't involve a video screen.

Most coin shops have a bucket of wheats for just a few cents each. GL.

 

[beez0404]

Just one little problem. I live in NC and the boys live in NY. I do see what you're saying about sending them the completed album. Maybe I could put four or five in each one and send the other pennies to their mom and dad. Each week they could purchase a few penny rolls at the bank and secretly slip a few of the wheat pennies into the mix for the boys to find for their albums. That way they are finding them and working towards completing their albums.

Not sure how I feel about re-rolling 10,000 pennies though.....LOL

 

[silversnacher]

Just one little problem. I live in NC and the boys live in NY. I do see what you're saying about sending them the completed album. Maybe I could put four or five in each one and send the other pennies to their mom and dad. Each week they could purchase a few penny rolls at the bank and secretly slip a few of the wheat pennies into the mix for the boys to find for their albums. That way they are finding them and working towards completing their albums. Not sure how I feel about re-rolling 10,000 pennies though.....LOL

Naw don't sneak 'em in there. let them find wild ones!

 

[Backstrap80]

I bought several bags from a coinshop for a nickel a piece in bank bags. I ended up with quads+ after doing my kids books, if you PM me I can show you my local shop where I bought them, Im not making any $ and I have them sorted by dates. Im sure I could whack the 40's-50's no problem maybe even the 30's the 20's and teens I have few of.

 

[Tedyoh]

I have a lot - close to all and probably 5 or 6 sets (except the key dates obviously) - PM sent Beez

 

[littlehugger]

You wont fill the albums by purchasing large lots of Wheaties. There are far too many rare and semi rare ones.
You could purchase some of the middling rare ones in sets, as there are many on EBay. Whole decades of S-mints, gorgeous sets of the 43 steelies, small dates, larse dates, etc. Then, you can but whole bags of common date Wheaties for them to find and fill in.
You can buy albums starting 1960, when they changed to the Lincoln Memorial, and find almost all of them for the albums. As another said, its only $100 for 10,000 cents, and if your kids keep 500, you can take the $95 back to the bank.
There are sellers out there who sell 5000 piece sacks of Wheaties, but they go around $200.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

As mentioned....Coin Roll hunting is the BEST way to go...its exciting and you never know what you might find. i've found indian head pennies and even a merc once in a roll of pennies

 

[boogeyman]

That's great, giving the youngsters a taste of a hobby that doesn't involve a video screen.

Most coin shops have a bucket of wheats for just a few cents each. GL.

Do you have any antique malls near by? By me there's several with sellers that have rolls, bags & boxes. Tell them what they're for & I'll bet you can get a better price. Tug those heart strings hard. Sometimes swap meets have sellers. One guy I keep running across has a stainless steel bowl full for 3 cents each. I'll ask him "How much for the whole mess?" Catches him with his pants down & he doesn't want to count them out, so I usually pay 3/4 cent apiece. And last but not least if you have Craigs List there, out up a wanted ad. You'll be amazed what's offered up.

Great idea / project you got going there!

Oh! if you've got to ship them put them in some of the tiny Tupperware type containers(99 cent store 10 for $.99) padded up with TP & taped shut. Haven't lost anything even with the box delivered looking like the truck backed up over it.