Before I get to my twice-found key date Wheat penny, let me give you a little of my back story. I was in an auto accident in 1996 in which I was ejected from my truck. I broke my neck, and I am paralyzed from the chest down. My right arm is completely paralyzed as well, but my left arm works almost completely normally. I use an electric wheelchair to get around.
About 7 years ago, as I was out pulling weeds and cleaning dirt and grass out of my old sidewalk, it struck me that if I could pull weeds and scoop dirt, then surely I could metal detect. I ended up choosing an E-TRAC, and then I was off and running. Through lots of trial and error, I can now enjoy the hobby my grandpa introduced me to 30 years go.
Now, back to the present. I live in a very small Kansas town. Even at its largest, our town never had a lot of people or a lot of traffic. That, coupled with the fact that I’m limited in where I can hunt, means the number of “keepers” I find is somewhat limited. Because of that, I spend extra time and clean every old coin I find. The silver coins and Indian Head pennies go in a special box, but the Wheat pennies get cleaned and tossed in one of several bags or drawers.
I have always planned on keeping every old coin I’ve found, so I've never spent time learning all of the various key dates. I have just a general idea of the dates of the different coins I've found.
One day I was reading a thread on a metal detecting forum, and a couple of guys were discussing Wheat pennies. One guy said he only cleaned them enough to see if they were 1909 or 1914D. It occurred to me that I had found a 1914 over the winter. I pulled it out and grabbed my magnifying glass. Much to my surprise, mine was a 1914D.
I cleaned it up a little more, posted a few pictures and a short video on a couple of forums, then retired it to the special box with the silvers and IH pennies. No, it isn’t worth much, but it is pretty cool to think that in my very small collection of dug coins, I have one that not very many people will ever come across.
Thanks for reading along.
Roger - KS, USA
