I found a 1919s Wheatie in the Weirdest Place

DustDevilMarc · Mar 30, 2014

I saw the Wheatie quietly sitting in the Penny bowl while I was waiting to pay my bill at a local restaurant. The place was packed and the register clerk was busy with the customer ahead of me. I felt bold, so I removed the coin and found that it was a worn 1919s. I decided to keep the penny and tossed in a much less vintage coin to keep the Universe in harmony.

What would you do if you saw a pair of wheat leaves in a penny bowl?

SilverFace · Mar 30, 2014

Nice find! That coins in decent condition too. So is that the actual "pennie" bowl from the restaurant? lol I'm sure I would have done the same thing too, and I wouldn't have felt guilty about it as long as I replaced it with another coin. I remember getting a 1919S,1918S or 1917S (I cant remember for sure the exact year) in my change from an Arby's restaurant a couple of years ago. That coin was in nice mid-grade (F-VF) condition too.

boristhespider88 · Mar 31, 2014

I've got one weirder for you:

I work at a Target store and I was walking to the customer service desk and next to the second to last check lane, I saw a coin on the ground, walked over checked it out, it was a 1910 wheat that someone just threw on the floor.

Talk about weird.

DustDevilMarc · Mar 31, 2014

Yes, that is the actual penny bowl. The original photo showed the bowl in front of the register, but I deleted that photo when I cropped the picture to show the penny bowl only. Sorry!

baddbluff · Mar 31, 2014

That's cool. I found a scarce date 1931d in the penny bin when I worked at a restaurant on the Las Vegas strip. Bought it for 1c! Not too long ago, I spotted a silver Roosie in the tip jar at a Smash Burger. I told the cashier I'd buy a dime out of her jar for a buck & she was cool with it. Melt value at the time was about 2 bucks.

SilverFace · Mar 31, 2014

DustDevilMarc said:
Yes, that is the actual penny bowl. The original photo showed the bowl in front of the register, but I deleted that photo when I cropped the picture to show the penny bowl only. Sorry!

Oh ok, I assumed it was. I just thought it was kinda cool u thought to take a pic of the pennies bowl while u were there lol. I also remember getting a 1919(P) a year or two ago from a McD's in my change. I should remember to stop paying the exact amount when Im at fast food restaurants because I've had good luck getting old coins in my change from those places.

barneyb71 · Mar 31, 2014

I found a 1955s last week in the "take a penny, leave a penny" tray at a gas station. I would say it was in very good condition, just had some stuff stuck to it. Yes I did leave a penny, it's karma and the right thing to do.

BryanM362 · Mar 31, 2014

Cool find, I always look in those for wheaties!

maine_Jim · Mar 31, 2014

Up for grabs there and nice of you to replace with a likely zincoln. I once spotted a silver quarter in one of those cardboard displays for a charity. It was in a restaurant located near the entrance and the quarter was bright white compared to the grayish haze emanating from all the rest of the quarters. I was drawn to it - almost like something in my head kept repeating"my precious"...I slowly walked over to it and popped it out quickly replacing it with another quarter. Another day in the life of a CRH I thought as I walked by the coinstar and gave it a quick glance for another potential score.

Maine_Jim

dirtdigginfool · Mar 31, 2014

Oh absofreakinglutely !! I am on them "take a penny leave a penny" jars, cups and dishes like a chicken on a june bug! In fact, all the local clerks at the gas stations, delis and carry-outs are acclimated to me rooting through the penny dish and now pay me no mind...And just yesterday-I scored a beautiful 52 wheatie..I got exactly one cent back as change and it was the 52! Great timing..i had posted that find yesterday on our local buckeye treasure hunters forum. Not a key date-but was in great shape and a score nonetheless. Got it at breakfast and started my day off great. And just in case you were wondering-YES i make sure to replace all my penny dish scores with a replacement coin.

CW3(ret) US Army · Mar 31, 2014

DustDevilMarc said:
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I saw the Wheatie quietly sitting in the Penny bowl while I was waiting to pay my bill at a local restaurant. The place was packed and the register clerk was busy with the customer ahead of me. I felt bold, so I removed the coin and found that it was a worn 1919s. I decided to keep the penny and tossed in a much less vintage coin to keep the Universe in harmony.

View attachment 969866

What would you do if you saw a pair of wheat leaves in a penny bowl?

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That is a nice find, the coin is in good shape (the lines in the wheat on the back are full & well defined). The best find I got from a fast food restaurant was from the cash register. I saw the coin in the register & I swapped it out with the cashier. It was a 1934 full date buffalo nickel. This was at a Wendys in Jan 2013. I posted it on 1/16/13.

HH
Gary

texasred777 · Mar 31, 2014

In the early 80s I was working for a convenience store (private) chain. I was driving from one station to another one on the other side of town. It was about mid-morning. I turned a corner and saw some coins scattered along the street, the walk, and into a parking lot. I pulled into the parking lot, stopped, got out of the truck, and began picking up coins. Two men also stopped and started picking up some of the quarters. One kinda looked at me like I was stealing their coins. I told them to get theirs and I would get mine. Nothing more was said. They picked up most of the quarters and left. I stayed until I had picked up all of the coins that I could find. When I got home that evening, I counted over $17 in coins. One was a 1919 wheat. I don't remember the mint mark. All the rest of the coins were clad. I never heard where the coins came from and can't imagine how they got scattered over such a large area. The area must have been at least 20' by 50'. It was like someone took a large bag of coins, held it by the bottom, and just 'slung' the coins from about the center stripe of the street toward the parking lot.

Dozer D · Mar 31, 2014

I would take the penny, but in return leave several others. Would even let the cashier know that I was doing it, so no thought of being a thief.

BigWaveDave · Mar 31, 2014

My best move is to buy a scratch ticket, when clerk is distracted in getting the ticket, I announce 'OOPS', I need a coin, and grab my target wheatie, and scratch away...