Is now a good time to buy BU Lincoln Cent rolls(Wheats)??

keets · October 18, 2014 5:34AM

Just looked at the GreySheet to price a roll for a guy and we got talking about what they sold for in the past. Are prices low and is it a better time to buy common BU rolls??

Al H.

Roscoe · October 18, 2014 11:45AM

When I went through spurts of roll collecting in the mid 80's and again in the early 90's I picked up multiples of Jefferson common dates and am surprised at what some have done at today's prices. I've recently started doing the same with post war and early to mid 50's Lincolns. I don't think they're a quick profit maker but as a collector I think ten year holdings are worth a try. Yes, I think they're cheap.

Shamika · October 18, 2014 11:56AM

The prices may look good, but it all depends if the number of future collectors is growing or not.

TwoSides2aCoin · October 18, 2014 12:02PM

"There's never a better time like ___ _______ ( two words) < will give a hint "The" is the first word.

And then there's Forrest Gump.
" You know ____ is like a box of chocolates …."

There's never a bad time to search for the best among the best, and get them graded. Although, as a "searcher", it pains me to imagine what hasn't been looked for , or after…. all these years.

crypto79 · October 18, 2014 12:56PM

Unless bought at under 50c per... No

oreville · October 18, 2014 1:15PM

I would suggest you obtain a pre 1999 copy of the greysheet prices on BU rolls.

You will be astonished on how much some of the BU roll prices have risen on some and not on others.

Buying the cheapest rolls may or may not be the best way to go.

I would also suggest trying to obtain obw rolls if at all possible!!!

291fifth · October 18, 2014 9:44PM

<< Unless bought at under 50c per... No >>

... and I am not being negative, just realistic.

cladking · October 19, 2014 12:43AM

<< 

<< Unless bought at under 50c per... No >>

... and I am not being negative, just realistic. >>

I think the fact that some rolls have increased substantially while most have
dropped or remained stagnant implies there is collector activity occurring in this
area. While all the wheat rolls from after WW II were common as were most of
the memorial rolls, after all these years the attrition has become significant. Many
rolls have been lost to corrosion and misadventure. You can't expect every roll
to survive when prices are as low as a couple dollars. Even when one of the once
common rolls "soars" to $10 it will only slow the attrition a little since people won't
be putting them in safety deposit boxes.

The post WW II coinage (especially post-1965) has been ignored since 1965 so
it's very difficult to estimate what's available and what isn't. The only thing we can
say with some certainty is that all of regular issues were once common in pristine
condition. Of course well made examples of some of these were lower mintage
and not nearly as common as generally assumed. You can't expect the average
'49-S to look like the average '55-S. You certainly can't expect the typical '66 5c
to look like a '50.

rmpsrpms · October 19, 2014 5:45AM

<< 

<< Unless bought at under 50c per... No >>

... and I am not being negative, just realistic. >>

Nope, that is just negative, not realistic at all. There has always been a market for BU rolls of Wheat Cents above face value. Even just for melt they are worth more than 50c per roll, any date, any mint.

Zoins · October 19, 2014 7:51AM

<< Even just for melt they are worth more than 50c per roll, any date, any mint. >>

Isn't it illegal to melt them? If so, how would you capture the melt value?

SoCalBigMark · October 19, 2014 8:47AM

Drive to Tijuana?

Zoins · October 19, 2014 8:53AM

<< Drive to Tijuana? >>

They have that covered in 31 CFR Part 82: "Prohibition on the Exportation, Melting, or Treatment of 5-Cent and One-Cent Coins"

tahoe98 · October 20, 2014 4:04AM

Isn't it illegal to melt them? If so, how would you capture the melt value?

...by turning them in at your local bone-yard that has anti-establishment views...

rmpsrpms · October 20, 2014 1:49PM

<< Isn't it illegal to melt them? If so, how would you capture the melt value?

...by turning them in at your local bone-yard that has anti-establishment views...

>>

Yep. That describes most all of them.

291fifth · October 20, 2014 10:27PM

<< 

<< 

<< Unless bought at under 50c per... No >>

... and I am not being negative, just realistic. >>

Nope, that is just negative, not realistic at all. There has always been a market for BU rolls of Wheat Cents above face value. Even just for melt they are worth more than 50c per roll, any date, any mint. >>

1. They can't legally be melted.

2. The selling costs associated with heavy, low value items such as common wheat cent rolls are very high. Many collectors choose to completely ignore selling costs when thinking about "value" and that is not a wise thing to do.

3. If broken down into singles it will take forever to get rid of them and selling costs will get even worse than if the rolls were kept intact.

4. "Nice ones" can only be sold for big money if they are slabbed by the "right" third party grader. Costs related to slabbing are very high. Do you have enough confidence in your grading ability to be able to pick out the "nice ones" and only the "nice ones"?

mustangmanbob · October 20, 2014 11:01PM

I bought out a dealer, not really sure why, of his 1950's and 1960's BU rolls. Wheats were $2 a roll, and Mem. were 75 cents a roll, since I took them all. It was about 200 rolls. Mostly, they just sit in a closet. I sold about 20 of the mem's for $4 a roll to a guy who looks for repunched Mint Marks. I "lost" about 10 rolls when our Collie had puppys, and one of the puppys found the coins and tore the rolls apart. It was a glittering sea of copper in the closet, so I just packed them up and took them to the bank where they have a free counter.

He also had about 30 rolls of Canadian, all at face. I searched them, pulled out the stuff that had some value, and scraped the rest. They went to the metals scrap years, with some copper pipe, auto radiators, etc.

cladking · October 20, 2014 11:31PM

<< 

2. The selling costs associated with heavy, low value items such as common wheat cent rolls are very high. Many collectors choose to completely ignore selling costs when thinking about "value" and that is not a wise thing to do.

>>

It's not "selling costs" that are a problem. It's the fact that middlemen now days raise the
costs of everything through the roof and they diminish what you can get for what you sell.

It doesn't cost that much to load a truck load of pennies but finding a buyer while the coins
are illegal to melt is impossible.

People should be aware that the scrap buyers will discount their coins even after they be-
come legal to melt again.

I have to believe a large number of home and school projects that require scrap copper are
being made of pennies now. Metal dealers that pay $1 a pound will charge $5 a pound but
pennies are only $1.50 a pound from circulation and you can buy BU rolls for less.

oreville · October 21, 2014 2:42AM

Back in 1999, I bought over 500 rolls of obw wheat cents from Virg Marshall "the penny merchant."

I realize that 291fifth would be upset that I paid over face value example being 1955-D obw rolls at $1.90 each.

I did sell about 20% of the rolls and recouped my cost about 4 years ago so the rest are free.

The magic of these rolls is that they are obw rolls and should not be busted open as they are a collectible in itself with the Federal Reserve banks names clearly marked on them.

My favorites are Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Los Angeles Branch. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Pitssburgh Branch.
These are actually humourous and somewhat scarce to collect as well!

Elcontador · October 21, 2014 3:42AM

When recently in Alaska, a shop was selling BU rolls of 58 Ps for $7.50 each. Said he didn't have time to search them. Personally, if you don't think you can find enough 66 RDs and do a bulk submission, I wouldn't bother. I did this on a roll of 56 Ds I bought eons ago and made some money.

cladking · October 21, 2014 4:23AM

<< Back in 1999, I bought over 500 rolls of obw wheat cents from Virg Marshall "the penny merchant."

I realize that 291fifth would be upset that I paid over face value example being 1955-D obw rolls at $1.90 each.

I did sell about 20% of the rolls and recouped my cost about 4 years ago so the rest are free.

The magic of these rolls is that they are obw rolls and should not be busted open as they are a collectible in itself with the Federal Reserve banks names clearly marked on them.

My favorites are Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Los Angeles Branch. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Pitssburgh Branch.
These are actually humourous and somewhat scarce to collect as well! >>

So many rolls have been busted open to look for varieties and Gems that many
dates are almost certainly tough in obw rolls. While the attrition rate on the coins
is only about 1% annually the attrition rate on the rolls is far higher.

People don't notice the gradual changes until they accumulate to make a big change.

...time don't fly, it bounds and leaps...

rmpsrpms · October 21, 2014 5:28AM

Melting a BU roll of Wheat Cents for scrap metal value would be a very stupid thing to do.

Is now a good time to buy BU Lincoln Cent rolls(Wheats)??

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