How to Find Wheat Pennies

Go to your local bank or credit union and ask for rolls of pennies. You certainly won't be the first nor last person to ask for tonnes of one cent coins and the clerk will of course know what you are up to. So there is a pretty good chance that they may decline your request saying that they have only so and so few spare rolls. You have to understand that the bank does not gain anything from you if you brake open 50 or more rolls of their pennies and some time later give it all back so they have to repack all the remaining and unwanted Lincoln cents. Therefore I would advise to go to the bank or credit union where you have your own account. If you are that particular bank's own customer you have greater chance that you will get some rolls of old pennies, and you certainly can get more than in any other bank. I usually ask for extra pennies when I am bringing in my own paycheck. Thus they know how valuable customer I am and providing me with several thousands of pennies should be acceptable trouble for them.

When you ask for pennies in your bank, you should be specific how much you want, but emphasize that if they don't have "that" much, you still will be happy with anything you can get. You are dealing with your potential long-term source of wheat pennies, so it is desirable to keep good relationship. Maybe the clerk will ask you if you want "new" or "old" cents. Some people collect unopened rolls of freshly minted one cent coins as well. Of course those contain no wheat cents, so you surely want the old ones. The cents come in rolls by 50 coins which are packed in boxes by 50 rolls. That means that each box of pennies is worth 25$ and contains 2500 one cent coins. Be aware that it is quite heavy, and unless you come with a wheelbarrow you will have troubles already with 2 boxes, since each box weights about 14 pounds.

Whatever you get from the bank just bring it home. Brake the rolls and spread the coins on a flat surface. Check the date and/or tail of each coin. Don't automatically assume that all wheat cents will be dark brown and all nice and shiny coins are new and should be brought back to bank. On average you can expect 10 wheat cents in each 25$ box. 2 or 3 pennies will be in really bad shape, but 1 or 2 will be still shiny as if not being in circulation at all. You will also find just about one Canadian cent per 100 US cents. Their designs are much more variable than US cents and sometimes you can also find some really old prewar pieces. Their value is often even greater than average wheat cent, so you may consider keeping them too. Good luck hunting !!!