Dan had to pick up a couple things in Wal Mart today and he received a 1955 D wheat penny in his change. Anyone else had that happen—in the last ten years or so?
Several years ago, someone put money in their mailbox for stamps which included several wheat pennies. I wondered today, just like I did back then, why the pennies were in circulation.
There’s always the thought the jar of wheat pennies many people our age have collected over the years was used by mistake. Or, they are coin collectors and already have enough and are giving someone else a chance.
I did do a little checking. The 1955 D is valued at three times face value. Perhaps in a time when many don’t even bend over and pick up a penny up off the sidewalk, one that is worth 3 cents would not be considered be a great keepsake. However, some are worth more. A 1914 D is worth $125 and an unmarked 1922 $415. Most likely those are buried in collections.
In about 1975 our family went on a ski trip to Colorado. When we returned, our house had been burglarized. I lost my wedding ring (which I didn’t wear for fear I’d lose it) and Dan lost a very respectable coin collection he had worked on for years. He never got back into it after that. It was fun to find the wheat penny in change today, though.