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Speaking of wheatbacks...I have a whole mess of them (nearly 10 dollars worth) I bought at a bank a couple years back. Talk about a lucky buy.
Anyway, I've searched them for dates, and that's how I got my 1909. I didn't search them for errors or other things though. The majority seem to be from 1945 with some other years scattered in there. Latest I've seen was 1959, earliest was 1938. Going over them all would take a LOOOOOONG time....so are there any eye-catching things I should look for?
Yes, look for the mint and its placement---the initial of the place it was made. An "s" in many cases can add value to the coin. Also the font size of the date. Not to mention errors in which I'd purchase a book or google them to find their location. There is always the chance you may have a gem in the rough.
I'm not sure about this as metal prices are in the tank right now. After weighing a bronze penny, (the newer ones are zinc), and after checking the spot prices on scrap bronze, it would seem that spot would have to be over $1.80 per pound for a person to even break even. Bronze is under 50 cents a pound right now (depending on who's buying and the quantity), due to less demand caused by the recession.
I'm I wrong ?
First off, the Copper Lincoln Cents (1909-1982) are 95% copper, 5% Zinc ..... they are not "bronze" (excepting some wartime issues) and it takes somewhere around 130 cents to make one pure pound of copper ($1.30+). At current copper prices a profit can be made on each roll.
What I have been working on recently, as an experiment, is a very simple automated sorting device, that can detect the difference between the 3.11 gram 95% copper pennies vs. the 1982-later 2.5 gram copper-plated zinc. It can sort them at about 1 per second. Letting it run around the clock, that is 86,400 sorted pennies a day. Assuming that 25% (don't have the actual numbers yet) are pre-1982, that is 21,600 copper pennies, or $216 face value, or about $388 copper value. That yields a profit of $172 a day, with little more work than ordering from the bank every day, $864 in pennies (obviously different banks so you don't keep getting the sorted pennies over and over), and taking the sorted ones back. BTW, $864 of pennies is NOT lightweight, like almost 600 lbs.
Letting the machine run 5 days a week yields about $45,000 a year. Not even close to live on, but a nice little supplement. What the buyers do with the 95% copper pennies is none of my business.
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