Red UNC Wheats getting harder to find?

BigBen

After calling over 10 coin shops in my region looking for red uncirculated wheat pennies from the 40s and 50s, it seems they are getting alot harder to come by unless buying raw and unseen on Ebay. Dealers told me that they have people on their waiting list for RED UNC Wheats if they come in, so this came as a suprise. Can anyone shed some light on this?

pharmer

Getting harder to find? Absolutely, and getting high grade gems in the rolls you do find is even harder. But the pops are still going up in the highest grades, so just keep trying. A better approach may be to go in and buy a couple rolls and check them out rather than calling.

BigBen

Thanks pharmer. That's just the problem, nobody has any rolls let alone raw single red coins. The dealers tell me that because wheats are copper and corrode, it is harder for the average person to keep them red, as opposed to silver, which just tarnishes and can be dipped if unc. Are coin shows a good place to buy rolls or are they going to cost a fortune?

pharmer

I've never been to a show, so I don't know about that. The CDN has roll prices bid/ask every quarter, so you might use that as a guide.

BigBen

The big question is, what has suddenly fueled the unc wheat penny market? It seemed like there used to be tons of this stuff around, but now red wheats are climbing in price fast. Anybody?

coinbuf

If by UNC you mean MS62 or MS63 coins you should have no problem finding them. But if you mean MS65 or better then yes thay are becoming harder to find. The reason is the registries, so many collectors and dealers are submitting coins trying for 66 and 67 grades. This is especially true for the 50's P mint coins, very difficult dates for high grades. This leads to a lot of slabbed 65's or in some cases those who still have original rolls may be waiting for a perceived looser grading period before submitting.

Chris

BigBen

Thanks coinbuf. Ironically enough, I just got incredibly lucky and bought a small lot of 1950s "P" UNC Wheat rolls from a dealer, just hoping to find a gem or two in them. Luck was in my favor because ALL the rolls were cherrypicked gem rolls that a dealer or collector in the 50s put away in the old plastic tubes bound by scotch tape lol. I started scratching my head when MS-66 after MS-66 BRIGHT red came out! I felt like I had won the lottery I'm still going through them, but I took two of them (1955 Ps) to a dealer that is a very conservative grader, and he said both were almost 67s! It's like the Comstock Wheat load lol. These coins are going to make me lose sleep!

Cheers!
BigBen