An elongated coin (also known as a pressed penny or smashed penny) is a coin that has been flattened or stretched, and embossed with a new design. Such coins are often used as commemorative or souvenir tokens, and it is common to find coin elongation machines in tourism hubs, such as museums, amusement parks, and natural or man-made landmarks.
The collecting of elongated coins is a branch of numismatics. Elongated coins are also categorized as exonumia.
The first elongated coins in the United States were created at the World's Columbian Exposition, held in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois. [1] Several designs [2] were issued to commemorate the fair, and are available in the elongated coin collecting community today. [3]
The earliest elongated coin designer on record is Charles Damm, who created the design for the elongated coins available at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. [4]
The production of elongated coins can be divided into three general classes, each of which covers a distinct period from 1893 to the present. The first of the three classes are referred to colloquially as "oldies", and were produced mainly for issuance at nationwide fairs like the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exhibition and the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. [5] This period started with the issuance of the first elongateds in 1893, and ended with an influx of private rollers around 1965. The second class of elongated coins, the "Modern Elongateds", cover the years c. 1965 to c. 1985. [6]
Around 1965, the major source of elongated coins became private rollers, individuals who designed and rolled elongated coins for sale. The major rollers of this period include Dottie Dow, the "House of Elongateds" (Lee Martin/Warren Bunge), Ralph Jones, Ralph W. Jobe, Elmer Anderson, Don Adams, Cee Ceven, and Angelo A. Rosato. [4] While many private rollers still operate (notables include Raymond W. Dillard, Tyler D. Tyson, Brad Ream, and Don Adams), the vast introduction of commercial stand alone elongated machines came into the marketplace in 1988, following the introduction of the coin-operated penny press machine 1971, [7] decreased the demand for private issues.[ citation needed ]
This event marks the beginning of the third class of elongated coins, the "Contemporary Elongateds" (c. 1988 – present). This class of elongated coin machines were designed and built by Randy and Earl Vaughn from Dayton, Ohio, in 1988. These mechanical coin-operated machines are still prominent in amusement parks such as Disney resorts [8] [9] and attractions throughout the United States, and the world. [10]
The first known coin-operated stand-alone automated coin rolling vendor was designed by Vance Fowler and his Cimeter Group offering a "I Love Oregon" pressed penny which was placed in the Meier & Frank Company department store, a branch of The May Company Stores, in 1979. [11] Vance Fowler's Cimeter Group also proposed the DN0001 prototype pressed coin as the first Disneyland Resort pressed coin in 1986. However, ultimately Centex Inc. was the first company to place a coin press machine at the Disneyland Resort, offering the DL0001 Mickey Mouse Rays pressed coin in 1987. [12]
The hobby of collecting elongated coins has expanded throughout the United States and the world. Most modern coin elongating machines can be found in museums or landmark gift shops, souvenir stores, zoos, amusement parks and other locations of this kind. Private engravers make special-issue elongated coins to commemorate historical events, personal landmarks (such as marriage or birth of a child), or other events warranting celebration. They also design elongated coins for private clubs and organizations. [13]
Several websites and online groups exist to support collectors offering locations and articles covering topics such as rolling, preserving, cleaning, and other related topics. [14] The Elongated Collectors is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1966. The group's official mission is to "educate, encourage and promote the study, acquisition and exhibition of elongated coins." The organization publishes a quarterly newsletter, "TEC News", and periodic email updates, "TEC eNews", creates elongated coins, and hosts an annual meeting in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money. [15]
It is common to find "pressed penny" machines in tourism hubs, such as museums, amusement parks, [16] and natural or man-made landmarks. [17]
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An early and common method of coin elongation was smashing pennies by leaving them on a railroad track. [18] When a train rolls over a penny, the force is sufficient to cause plastic deformation that flattens and stretches it into an oval, showing only the faintest trace of the original design. Some early railroad flattened cents were then hand engraved with the date and location.
Modern elongated coins are created by inserting a standard, small denomination coin into a small rolling mill consisting of two steel rollers pressed against each other with sufficient force to deform the coin. One of the rollers (called the "die") is engraved with a design that imprints a new image into the metal as the coin passes through it. The resulting coin is oval-shaped and shows a design corresponding to the design on the die in the mill. Some machines are hand operated, whereas others are fully automatic. [19]
Throughout the history of the production of elongated coins, various methods have been used to engrave the design into the roller. Early elongateds were hand engraved with burin gravers, and some are still engraved using this method. More popular modern and contemporary methods include etching, pantograph engraving, and engraving using electric or air-powered rotary tools.
In the US, one-cent coins are most commonly used in these vending machines, as they are thin, easy to emboss, and are the smallest denomination of US money (most machines charge US$1.00 in addition to the cent rolled). All US cents produced after 1982 have a zinc core, and using them produces elongated coins with zinc streaks. This zinc streaking can be avoided by using coins produced before 1982. (The United States Mint produced both compositions during 1982.) Less common are machines that press designs into quarters, dimes, and nickels. [20]
The process of creating elongated coins is legal in the United States, South Africa and parts of Europe. In the United States, U.S. Code Title 18, Chapter 17, Section 331 prohibits "the mutilation, diminution and falsification of United States coinage." The foregoing statute, however, does not prohibit the mutilation of coins, if the mutilated coins are not used fraudulently, i.e., with the intention of creating counterfeit coinage or profiting from the base metal (the pre-1982 copper U.S. cent which, as of 2010, is worth more than one cent in the United States). [21] [22] Because elongated coins are made mainly as souvenirs, mutilation for this purpose is legal. [23]
In the UK, the Coinage Act of 1971, Section 10 states: "No person shall, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Treasury, melt down or break up any metal coin which is for the time being current in the United Kingdom or which, having been current there, has at any time after 16th May 1969 ceased to be so." [24] As the process of creating elongated coins does not require them to be melted nor broken up, Section 10 does not apply and coin elongation is legal within the UK with penny press machines a common sight at tourist attractions across the nation. [25]
In countries where such mutilation is illegal, such as Canada, [26] [27] planchets, slugs, or U.S. cents are occasionally used, though this law is often ignored both by the users of the machine and law enforcement.[ citation needed ]
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government. Coins often have images, numerals, or text on them. The faces of coins or medals are sometimes called the obverse and the reverse, referring to the front and back sides, respectively. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse is known as tails.
A nickel is a five-cent coin struck by the United States Mint. Composed of cupronickel, the piece has been issued since 1866. Its diameter is 0.835 inches (21.21 mm) and its thickness is 0.077 inches (1.95 mm).
The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. agencies that produce money in the case of minting coinage; the other is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which prints paper currency. The first United States Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and soon joined by other centers, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.
The two-cent piece was produced by the Mint of the United States for circulation from 1864 to 1872 and for collectors in 1873. Designed by James B. Longacre, there were decreasing mintages each year, as other minor coins such as the nickel proved more popular. It was abolished by the Mint Act of 1873.
Exonumia are numismatic items other than coins and paper money. This includes "Good For" tokens, badges, counterstamped coins, elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, wooden nickels and other similar items. It is an aspect of numismatics and many coin collectors are also exonumists.
The 1955 doubled die cent is a die variety that occurred during production of the one cent coin at the United States Mint in 1955.
The Franklin half dollar is a coin that was struck by the United States Mint from 1948 to 1963. The fifty-cent piece pictures Founding Father Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse. A small eagle was placed to the right of the bell to fulfill the legal requirement that half dollars depict the figure of an eagle. Produced in 90 percent silver with a reeded edge, the coin was struck at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints.
Charles Edward Barber was an American coin engraver who served as the sixth chief engraver of the United States Mint from 1879 until his death in 1917. He had a long and fruitful career in coinage, designing most of the coins produced at the mint during his time as chief engraver. He did full coin designs, and he designed about 30 medals in his lifetime. The Barber coinage were named after him. In addition, Barber designed a number of commemorative coins, some in partnership with assistant engraver George T. Morgan. For the popular Columbian half dollar, and the Panama-Pacific half dollar and quarter eagle, Barber designed the obverse and Morgan the reverse. Barber also designed the 1883 coins for the Kingdom of Hawaii, and also Cuban coinage of 1915. Barber's design on the Cuba 5 centavo coin remained in use until 1961.
The half cent was the smallest denomination of United States coin ever minted. It was first minted in 1793 and last minted in 1857. It was minted with five different designs.
The Indian Head cent, also known as an Indian Head penny, was a one-cent coin ($0.01) produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1859 to 1909. It was designed by James Barton Longacre, the Chief Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint.
The United States large cent was a coin with a face value of 1/100 of a United States dollar. Its nominal diameter was 11⁄8 inch (28.57 mm). The first official mintage of the large cent was in 1793, and its production continued until 1857, when it was officially replaced by the modern-size one-cent coin.
The chain cent was America's first large cent and the first circulating coin officially produced by the United States Mint. It was struck only during 1793.
The coins of Canada are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and denominated in Canadian dollars ($) and the subunit of dollars, cents (¢). An effigy of the reigning monarch always appears on the obverse of all coins. There are standard images which appear on the reverse, but there are also commemorative and numismatic issues with different images on the reverse.
The Columbian half dollar is a coin issued by the Bureau of the Mint in 1892 and 1893. The first traditional United States commemorative coin, it was issued both to raise funds for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and to mark the quadricentennial of the first voyage to the Americas of Christopher Columbus, whose portrait it bears. The Columbian half dollar was the first American coin to depict a historical person.
The Fugio cent, also known as the Franklin cent, is the first official circulation coin of the United States. Consisting of 0.36 oz (10 g) of copper and minted dated 1787, by some accounts it was designed by Benjamin Franklin. Its design is very similar to Franklin's 1776 Continental Currency dollar coin that was produced in pattern pieces as potential Continental currency but was never circulated.
The Lincoln cent is a one-cent coin that has been struck by the United States Mint since 1909. The obverse or heads side was designed by Victor David Brenner, as was the original reverse, depicting two stalks of wheat. The coin has seen several reverse, or tails, designs and now bears one by Lyndall Bass depicting a Union shield. All coins struck by the United States government with a value of 1⁄100 of a dollar are called cents because the United States has always minted coins using decimals. The penny nickname is a carryover from the coins struck in England, which went to decimals for coins in 1971.
The numismatic history of the United States began with Colonial coins such as the pine tree shilling and paper money; most notably the foreign but widely accepted Spanish piece of eight, ultimately descended from the Joachimsthaler and the direct ancestor of the U.S. Dollar.
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar is a commemorative coin issue dated 1903. Struck in two varieties, the coins were designed by United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. The pieces were issued to commemorate the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in 1904 in St. Louis; one variety depicted former president Thomas Jefferson, and the other, the recently assassinated president William McKinley. Although not the first American commemorative coins, they were the first in gold.
The Habitant token were a series of tokens that were created for use primarily within Lower Canada and were issued in 1837. Produced as a successor to the popular bouquet sous, these tokens depicted a Habitant on the obverse, a traditional depiction of a French-Canadian farmer in winter clothing, and the coat of arms for the City of Montreal on the reverse. The tokens were issued in both one penny/deux sous and half penny/un sou denominations by the leading commercial banks of Montreal. They were issued in large numbers and can be easily acquired by the modern collector, though some varieties are rare and command a premium.
The 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent is a low-mintage coin of the United States dollar. It is a key date variety of the one-cent coin produced by the United States Mint in San Francisco in 1909. The Lincoln penny replaced the Indian Head penny and was the first everyday U.S. coin to feature an actual person, but it was immediately met with controversy over the inclusion of the initials of the sculptor who designed the coin, Victor David Brenner, on the reverse.
