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whatswheatsworth?
- Thread starter waynard
- Start date
The older pennies were also more genuinely copper-based. From 1864 to 1962 the penny was 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc, with the exception of the 1943 when the penny was made of zinc-coated steel due to the war demand for copper. From 1962 to 1982 the penny consisted of 95% copper and 5% zinc, the tin was removed during these years. Since 1982 the penny has not had much copper in it, only 2.5%, the rest, 97.5% now being zinc. In case you are interested.
We are! Nothing like talking coins to get us detector heads woke up.Mark652 said:
Some people reckon that Wheats = silver. Do they are very often seen as a harbinger of greater things to come. The thinking is that if they keep hammering a spot where they find a few Wheats, then silver must eventually come.
The truth is often different, though. Detectors have been around for almost 50 years and the earlier army of users most often cherrypicked, plucking only the silver and leaving all other coins behind. You hear this lament all the time: "I've been finding wheats, but I haven't found any silver - what gives?"
I like that if there is wheat's, then the possibility of other coins and stuff from that era are good.
I detected an area a couple times and didn't find any older stuff or coins (no wheat's). Although the junk I found was from the surface to some depth, I didn't find anything worth keeping. If I would have at least found some wheat's, then I probably would have gone back.
I detected another area a few years ago that all I found was junk both times I tried. It had lots of bottle caps and screw caps, but didn't find a single coin old or newer. I passed by that spot some time after with a friend he said that was fill dirt put in a couple years earlier
I look at wheat's as an indicator that's good enough for me to keep at it for awhile. Heck, just finding the ring pull tabs is good enough for me. At least enough for a few tries before I determine if it's worth it or not. But anything older gets me to give the spot at least a fair shake at it.
Sometimes I can go just not far from the area and things are different. So I'll wander some if things are looking slim all the while thinking where else around here should I try before deciding it not worth it.
So to me, a wheat is worth giving the spot/area a fair chance. Enough to determine if I can what is or isn't there.
I detected an area a couple times and didn't find any older stuff or coins (no wheat's). Although the junk I found was from the surface to some depth, I didn't find anything worth keeping. If I would have at least found some wheat's, then I probably would have gone back.
I detected another area a few years ago that all I found was junk both times I tried. It had lots of bottle caps and screw caps, but didn't find a single coin old or newer. I passed by that spot some time after with a friend he said that was fill dirt put in a couple years earlier
I look at wheat's as an indicator that's good enough for me to keep at it for awhile. Heck, just finding the ring pull tabs is good enough for me. At least enough for a few tries before I determine if it's worth it or not. But anything older gets me to give the spot at least a fair shake at it.
Sometimes I can go just not far from the area and things are different. So I'll wander some if things are looking slim all the while thinking where else around here should I try before deciding it not worth it.
So to me, a wheat is worth giving the spot/area a fair chance. Enough to determine if I can what is or isn't there.
So true, but the eternal optimist that lives inside every detectorist I know keeps hunting in the sure knowledge that silver is there......
About a month ago my friends and I got permission to hunt an old estate. The grounds close in around the old house---originally built in 1870---had been landscaped over the years so all the finds here were new coins, but further out from the house we started finding a few wheat pennies which were tantalizing enough to keep us going. There were four of us out hunting and each of us found wheaties. And two of us got lucky, one found a nice 1938 Merc dime and I popped a 1918 standing liberty quarter. Not a lot of silver, but enough to whet our appetites for a return visit which we are planning in the next few weeks.
Wheaties are always good incentive to keep hunting, where they are silver might lurk.........
Good hunting!
About a month ago my friends and I got permission to hunt an old estate. The grounds close in around the old house---originally built in 1870---had been landscaped over the years so all the finds here were new coins, but further out from the house we started finding a few wheat pennies which were tantalizing enough to keep us going. There were four of us out hunting and each of us found wheaties. And two of us got lucky, one found a nice 1938 Merc dime and I popped a 1918 standing liberty quarter. Not a lot of silver, but enough to whet our appetites for a return visit which we are planning in the next few weeks.
Wheaties are always good incentive to keep hunting, where they are silver might lurk.........
Good hunting!
It does happen. On the other hand, if you can see it so can someone else....Mark652 said:
Ive hunted places where Ive recovered wheaties by the score - and no silver. Later I learned that it was cherrypicked many years ago.
There can always be something left, of course. The fact tat the odd and occasional piece of silver still turns up in common areas. But the silver is usually found where others have not gone. This means you have to have an eye for the unusual and some knowledge of the past.
At your old estate, both worked in your favor. Odds are pretty good if it was ever detected, it was only done so lightly or only up near the house.
The point made about wheat cents at a site usually leading to other good targets is a good one.
I have said this about a million times and I'll say it again. Get a Red Book (Guidebook to US Coins) if you don't already have one. Thumb through it and you'll be an expert as to what is valuable and what is common in no time. Don't pay too much attention to the dollar values. You can however use them as a guide to relative value. There really aren't all that many key dates for coins minted after 1900. There are enough to keep me hopeful, though.
Chris
I have said this about a million times and I'll say it again. Get a Red Book (Guidebook to US Coins) if you don't already have one. Thumb through it and you'll be an expert as to what is valuable and what is common in no time. Don't pay too much attention to the dollar values. You can however use them as a guide to relative value. There really aren't all that many key dates for coins minted after 1900. There are enough to keep me hopeful, though.
Chris
My point here is to remind all that, sure, even a blind hog can find a nut now and then. But in detecting, you have to be first, if you are to win the silver prize. Second place holds less reward and third is clean up.Mark652 said:
You have to have hope, as that is what keeps all of us going. But you gotta have pragmatism, too.
You need to know if a place is the right place. Not every spot holds old coins, even if it is old. Sometimes there is just no good reason for them to be there. Especially after 50 years of detectors being around.
So you must learn the answers to the questions, "What happened here" and "If I am here, who else might have detected before me?"