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Wintertime boredom??? Count through 9,000+ wheaties!!! :spin: Long!

M

Mike Moutray - St.Louis MO

Member
The recent cold snap has me suffering cabin fever big time... I had nothing better to do with my free time, so I undertook a small endeavor that I had been wanting to do for the past couple years. I have a whitman album for wheat pennies that I have been filling up with my dug coins for the past 26 years, and I am short 5 holes - 1911S, 1913S, 1915S, 1924D, 1931S. These are scarce dates and hard to come by in my neck of the woods. I was lucky enough to find the big key dates - 1909S, 1909S VDB, 1914D. I got to wondering why I found these much rarer dates and missed the "easier" ones... The best way to figure it out was to count all the dates I had found over the years... 9,126 wheats total! Luckily I have kept a daily journal of all my finds from the first detecting trip back in the early 80's to present, and I wrote down every date of every wheatie that I had found. Otherwise, it would have been extremely time-consuming going through all those pennies, writing down the dates. It still took me over 30 hours of reading through all the journal pages. The results are below. There were many surprises in the numbers...

1909 VDB 11
1909S VDB 1
1909 72
1909S 2
1910 177
1910S 3
1911 87
1911D 32
1911S 0
1912 47
1912D 31
1912S 3
1913 60
1913D 55
1913S 0
1914 74
1914D 2
1915 15
1915D 34
1915S 0
1916 92
1916D 68
1916S 26
1917 173
1917D 99
1917S 34
1918 235
1918D 88
1918S 23
1919 480
1919D 95
1919S 191
1920 303
1920D 70
1920S 28
1921 31
1921S 4
1922D 4
1923 49
1923S 2
1924 56
1924D 0
1924S 1
1925 141
1925D 17
1925S 5
1926 113
1926D 25
1926S 5
1927 112
1927D 18
1927S 3
1928 85
1928D 23
1928S 6
1929 102
1929D 39
1929S 15
1930 88
1930D 23
1930S 2
1931 8
1931D 3
1931S 0
1932 4
1932D 3
1933 3
1933D 6
1934 112
1934D 9
1935 110
1935D 20
1935S 1
1936 139
1936D 20
1936S 3
1937 130
1937D 22
1937S 3
1938 40
1938D 5
1938S 6
1939 99
1939D 7
1939S 9
1940 155
1940D 43
1940S 32
1941 313
1941D 59
1941S 18
1942 208
1942D 95
1942S 14
1944 392
1944D 202
1944S 23
1945 369
1945D 75
1945S 19
1946 257
1946D 95
1946S 18
1947 7
1947D 88
1947S 13
1948 46
1948D 79
1948S 16
1949 17
1949D 54
1949S 3
1950 32
1950D 153
1950S 9
1951 20
1951D 169
1951S 11
1952 5
1952D 190
1952S 8
1953 10
1953D 160
1953S 6
1954 2
1954D 56
1954S 2
1955 13
1955D 132
1955S 1
1956 9
1956D 158
1957 2
1957D 155
1958 9
1958D 117

DATELESS 528

STEEL 15

TOTAL 9,126


I was surprised that my most popular date was 1919... I would have thought a newer date in the 40's. Then again, most of my hunting has taken place in older, "hunted out" sites over the years. Many of the newer dated wheaties that were shallower and read higher - near silver coins - would have already been
found by other detectorists. I also was surprised at only finding 1 1955S, 2 each 1954, 1954S, 1 1935S... these are later dates and much higher mintages than many other dates that I found far more of... This shows that there are other factors at work determining the dates and mints of coins found in my area (St. Louis). Certain years more coins flowed into the economy here than others. S -Mint coins are not as common here due to the fact of the distance from the west coast, but they still show up.

I also came up with the probability of finding any given date and mint mark. There were 24,698,521,000 wheaties minted total - over 24 BILLION! This doesn't include the 1943 steel wheaties as they aren't found on purpose.... the 15 I found were incidental discoveries in multiple coin holes. Take the lowest mintage wheatie - 1909S VDB at 484,000 and the odds of finding one is 1:51,030. The most common wheatie - 1944 at 1,435,400,000 and the odds of finding one is 1:17. Probability is more voodoo than science when it comes to finding coins, but it can be used to find which dates and mints are common in your area and which ones aren't. I took the number of each date and mint that I found and divided it into the total number of wheaties that I did find to get a second set of "actual" odds. The difference between the 2 sets of odds for each given date and mint told me if that particular coin was more common or more scarce for my area than "normal".

Analyzing this data and making adjustments for my geographical area and the dates and mints that are common in this area and the ones that aren't, I find out that my chances of finding a 1911S, 1913S, 1915S, and 1924D for my folder are better than average. Judging by the past posts from the guys up in North Dakota, that is where I need to be to find a 1924D! More years of diligent hunting should eventually get me these four dates. The 1931S, however, I'll have a better chance of winning the lottery, except by a bold stroke of luck (I've used up all my luck on the other key dates!). I'll have to move out on the west coast to increase my odds!

I used to hear of people YEARS ago finding complete sets of mercury dimes and wheat pennies, and I thought that those were impossible claims. I have since talked to people who have complete sets of mercury dimes ( a feat in itself ). I even heard someone claim to find a complete set of barber dimes, but never anyone with a complete set of wheaties. You would have to dig many, many thousands of wheaties - especially older ones and have an incredible amount of luck to complete that task. I'm doing my best to do it, maybe I'll actually do it some day - if my knees and back hold out!

Thanks for reading through this long post, if anyone else out there, crazy enough like me, has kept tabs of their wheatie finds for at least several years - let me know what your results were. I'm considering doing the same with all my Indian Head pennies - I have over 1,600 of them. Take care and HH, Mike.
 
It's great that you recorded all the finds from the very beginning. I'll bet others like myself started doing that but never kept at it, I sure wish I did since it would be fun to go back and read, especially with the amount you have. Nice job!
 
I don't have as many as you do Mike, maybe around 2000. But here is a list of the ones I don't have for a comparison.

1909vdb 1909vdbs 1909s 1910s 1911s 1912 1912s 1913 1913s 1914 1914d 1914s 1915 1915s 1916s
1923s 1924 1924d 1924s 1928s 1930d 1931 1931d 1931s 1932 1932d 1933

I have hunted in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming. So even a little west of you the S mint marks are still harder to come by.

I would suspect that the first set of coins I might complete would be the barber dimes, since I have found the key date 1895O
 
Incredible tasks Mike, both finding/digging that many and then keeping track of them. I have no idea how many I have found over the past 25 years, but I just weighed them, 17.5 pounds. I spent several snow days in December lightly tumbling them and looking for double die's. That was a waste of time other than they are cleaner now. I did find many semi-key dates but none of the biggies. When the grandkids get a few more years on them, I was going to divvy them up and let them start a collection. That should keep them busy for a while.
 
i wish i had a (silver) dime for every wheatie i found!
 
Great finds and fantastic record keeping.
 
I found a 1942-S in the process!
 
You are right about the 24-d Wheaties. They are in the North Dakota area since I must have about 15 of them since fall 2001. I also have found the 11-s, 13-s, and the 15-s Wheats up here also. The only one that I haven't found that you are looking for is the 31-s, but Rick(ND) found one in a local Park in Fargo, ND a few years back. Now if I could only fing the 09-s, 09-s vdb, 10-s, 14-d, and the 31-s, then I would be in great shape off completing the Wheat Cents like you. Can't wait to see your post on Indian Heads Mike. Continued Success, Good Luck and HH.
 
I think that in the Dakotas, that area was still growing in the early 20th century - which brought a lot of coins into the area commerce during that time. Also, I think people in that area up there were less likely to save the scarcer dates out of circulation for a collection like the people down here in a large metropolitan area. The scarce dates up there circulated longer, allowing them a better chance of being lost into the ground. My big key dates I found down here are all in high grade, which means they didn't circulate very long and were probably destined to be plucked out of circulation by a collector soon had they not been lost. Just my theory.....HH, Mike.
 
The money up here in the Dakota's was for provisions and what little was saved was always spent on other needed supplies, especially during the winter months. Even though there were towns close by to most people living on the prairie in the 20's, it was still a tough chore to drive a car on the roads due to how deep it was and the lack of snow removal equipment. They had Sleds during the winter but to venture out during the winter was dangerous, especially if the towns were a bit of distance from home. So alot of people would stock up for needed supplies so they didn't have to go to town during winter months, since blizzards would pop up quite suddenly. In the larger cities, I am sure there were people looking for specific dates and mint marks because they had more money than others and that is why there is some nice examples of Key Dates still in existence. O I am with you on this theory Mike. Good Luck and HH for them Wheats you need this year Mike.:detecting:
 
Mike,

I quit writing down wheatie dates a couple of years ago. Have them rolled by year found but someday may seperate by date. Someday. Are you counting 1922 plain as a date?

I'm guessing date/mintmark distibution has mainly to do with the mint to bank distribution system. Banks order coins as they are needed and some years they don't need any. I'm sure San Fran mint was more likely to ship to West Coast banks, bet most of the midwest may be split between Denver and Philly.

I would think that mint errors like 1922 plains or 1955 double strike are even more concentrated; only a few where made, probably all happened in a very short time and good chance they might have all been shipped to one area; most would probably circulate out of the area but probably a higher than normal amount would be lost locally.

Chris
 
Over the years we have seen a lot of the 1919 and the 1918 pennies and as James will tell you it seems every year we get 2 or more of the 24D and the 22 pennies with many of the 22 being weak strikes or look like plains. We get some 1909, but don't remember anyone getting a 1909 S or the VDB and don't know of a 14D either. Got the 31 S, but only 1 in my 35 years of detecting.
Now 1916 D merc we have seen 2 of them found up here in the last year and I know of others too. Seems like we see more of the D Mint marks than the S up here in the Dakotas.
 
I had a "Blackbook" for years, and used those figures (not sure if mintage figures between the Blackbook and Redbook are the same; I've never had a Redbook). The Treasury Department minted just as many Wheaties, at all three Mints, as were minted by all three Mints from 1909-1918. The Blackbook also mentioned that due to the popularity of the Lincoln/Wheat design, people were lined up outside banks to get some, and most banks couldn't keep enough of the "new" pennies in stock. Although I haven't read anything to support this, my theory is that people were hoarding the "new" pennies so much that it was hard to keep them in circulation. Also, IH Pennies were falling out of circulation, due to folks hoarding them, plus the factor of coins getting dropped and buried (good for us). This would explain why the Treasury Department basically increased production of pennies in 1919 tenfold.

Just my $0.02.

HH from Allen in OK

P.S. I've got today and tomorrow off. I may do the same thing and see what my counts and percentages are, but I can tell you this, most of my Wheat's are from the post-war years.
 
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