# When will the value of wheat pennies start to rise? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402 "2019-07-21T17:24:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/21 "2019-07-22T17:19:54Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Yeah - and I should specify that I’m talking about essentially fungible items - like coins. It would be a different thing (IMO) if one were trying to collect a penny from each year. Or each of the state quarters. Or something. I have a friend who collects baseball cards and hot wheels. He has certain criteria of what he looks for, and I guess he enjoys the effort more than looking for a profit. Tho I don’t really understand the attraction, I guess it seems different to me than just amassing cans of coins. My things are meat cleavers, colonial currency and things from a couple amusement parks. And guns but those I shoot; a lot. The other things are more just to hunt down, get, and keep. But back when I was still in the “coin biz” ----- why gather Polar Water bottles full of wheat pennies or bicentennial quarters? Why a thousand worn-to-death $2 bills? Silver sure; even I have my stash or two. And a little gold. By why things that will almost certainly never go up? I guess in the end it comes down to “because I enjoy doing it” and sometimes that has to be good enough. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/22 "2019-07-22T18:20:00Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > …I guess in the end it comes down to “because I enjoy doing it” and sometimes that has to be good enough. Yeah, I’m not trying to suggest anyone ought NOT collect pennies. I’m asking the more subtle question of why people find it “enjoyable.” I acknowledge it can be hard to put into words why I “enjoy” anything - but I usually can make a stab at it. I’m presuming you have fewer than thousands of cleavers, you use your guns, it might be enjoyable to hunt down the colonial currency, and the silver and gold can give some security. I’m sincerely curious what emotions people derive from collecting and possessing things like pennies. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/23 "2019-07-22T20:33:03Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Why? I’ve got maybe 20-25 wheaties in the pen/paperclip tray in my work desk’s top center desk drawer. Along with a trilobite, and a couple of neat rocks. > > But why do people collect large numbers of things of negligible investment value? I use them as weights for my art work. 21 pennies in each 35mm film canister (x the entire surface) is perfect for weighing down my art work until it dries. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/24 "2019-07-22T21:59:21Z")
> [@Mrdeals](#): > > How many wheat pennies of the 30B do you think survived? Maybe 1/10? 1/20? And every day they become a little more scarce. Do you mean maybe 3,000,000,000? 1,500,000,000? If one million pennies disappear every day, they will all be gone sometime in 2027. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/25 "2019-07-23T02:37:41Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’m presuming you have fewer than thousands of cleavers, you use your guns, it might be enjoyable to hunt down the colonial currency, and the silver and gold can give some security. I’m sincerely curious what emotions people derive from collecting and possessing things like pennies. I have right around a hundred cleavers ----- which really is excessive. 😃 From the people I know/knew from my employment in the hobby there is something of a satisfaction to the hunt and completing something you could call a set. Lincoln Cent sets, if you go high-grade as much as possible, is not the easiest thing to do. But then again neither are full-step Jefferson Nickels. But having that “full book” with no empty holes and other collectors admiring the set gives people satisfaction. And we all start somewhere. Before going the currency route even I, way back upon a day, had the standard Whitman album; still have my 1914-D and 1922 plain for that matter. And while its not the kind of penny you are thinking of I still have my 1793-Chain Cent from my college/type days. My itch just went a different route and I got more into the history and the autographs (early currency is all hand signed) than the things themselves. The hoards ------- now those are a mystery even to me. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/26 "2019-07-23T03:57:15Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Why? I’ve got maybe 20-25 wheaties in the pen/paperclip tray in my work desk’s top center desk drawer. Along with a trilobite, and a couple of neat rocks. > > But why do people collect large numbers of things of negligible investment value? I’ve no earthly idea. **Stares grumpily at closet full of Hot Wheels cars** ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/27 "2019-07-23T04:33:19Z")
At this point it’s like owning Franklin Mint products. No one wants them, too many people have them, hence their value is zero. Or rather, in the case of pennies, their value is one penny each. ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/28 "2019-07-24T00:44:32Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > At this point it’s like owning Franklin Mint products. No one wants them, too many people have them, hence their value is zero. Or rather, in the case of pennies, their value is one penny each. Underlining mine. Actually, they are worth about $0.0175 in copper & zinc scrap. However, scrapping them is illegal. So yes, their value is $0.01. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/29 "2019-07-24T01:02:23Z")
> [@48Willys](#): > > Underlining mine. > > Actually, they are worth about $0.0175 in copper & zinc scrap. However, scrapping them is illegal. > > So yes, their value is $0.01. To clarify, it is only illegal to scrap pennies and nickels, because the cost to mint them is more than the face value. It is also illegal to leave the country with more than $5 in pennies. Over the last decade almost all of the silver coins (dimes and quarters to 1964, some half-dollars and Eisenhower dollars) were collected and scrapped for the silver value, being about 25 times the face value. You’re lucky to find them now, but if you do, hold onto them. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/30 "2019-07-24T04:50:10Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Over the last decade almost all of the silver coins (dimes and quarters to 1964, some half-dollars and Eisenhower dollars) were collected and scrapped for the silver value, being about 25 times the face value. You’re lucky to find them now, but if you do, hold onto them. They said the same thing after the Hunt Brothers thing all those years back; they were wrong then and still are now. What you don’t see as much is them turning up in circulation but it still happens. I get maybe a couple bucks face a year in dimes and quarters. Now where I really score ------- I always check the reject chute and area at the CoinStar machines. Because of the difference in weight they will kick them out and a lot of people abandon them or, if the location has a little can next to the machine, toss them. I scored around $40 face this year alone. Not bad since I had to go grocery shopping anyway. And a have a box of stuff for the next time I visit Canada as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/31 "2019-07-25T03:15:15Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > They said the same thing after the Hunt Brothers thing all those years back; they were wrong then and still are now. I sold my coin collection almost exactly 60 days before the Hunt Brothers tried to buy the entire world’s silver. ---
**Author:** ![Deltree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Deltree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deltree)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/32 "2019-11-03T23:51:05Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > > [@panache45](#): > > > > I hope it happens in my lifetime, as I have over 10,000 of them. > > > [@](#): > > > > Because they made tons every year and people save/hoard the crap out of them. > > Why? I’ve got maybe 20-25 wheaties in the pen/paperclip tray in my work desk’s top center desk drawer. Along with a trilobite, and a couple of neat rocks. > > But why do people collect large numbers of things of negligible investment value? Why do you have 20 of them in your paperclip tray? As soon as you answer my question, you’ll have the answer to yours. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/33 "2019-11-04T00:28:34Z")
**When will the value of wheat pennies start to rise?** When the Greeks recon time by the Kalends. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/34 "2019-11-04T01:07:56Z")
Maybe they’ll rise if you add yeast and really knead it to happen? (Serious answers already given.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/35 "2019-11-04T01:49:57Z")
I glued pennies on a wooden tray. Poured epoxy over it. Waited about half a year for it to cure. It’s cool as heck. People always comment on it. I’ve seen floors people have done like this. I’m not that industrious. Sorry for the threadshit. Just wanted to share. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402/36 "2019-11-04T02:06:29Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I glued pennies on a wooden tray. Poured epoxy over it. There is (was) a bar down the road that had a bar like that (but far, far bigger) that had exactly 2 tails-up. Thousands of pennys. Little old lady bartender who had arthritis so bad, she couldn’t open the beer. She’d just kind of sling it at you. I’m sure she’s dead now. I used to throw darts there, and kick ass on a regular basis. I knew where the two were. Trivia: This building was rumored to be a private dressing room/space built for Marilyn Monroe during the shooting of _The Misfits_. Can’t verify that. But surely the bar came after. Some kind of crazy “Come to Jesus” church now. Disappointing. I often wonder what happened to that bar. Can’t be in the church, and I ain’t gonna go find out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-value-of-wheat-pennies-start-to-rise/837402.md?page=1)