FAQ
What is an Elongated Penny??
Also referred to as crushed, pressed, rolled, smashed, and squished. These pennies, although they can be made from any coin or round bit of metal, have been rolled between two steel rollers under about 22 tons of pressure. The process presses the coin into the die which has an image engraved into it, at the same time the coin is stretched, or elongated, into the shape familiar to collectors young and old.
What is the history of the Elongated Penny?
It is generally thought that the practice of elongating pennies has been around since 1892 where they made their debut at the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois.
For a history of the penny go to http://www.pennies.org/history/intro.html
Is it legal?
Yes, The United States Codes under Title 18, Chapter 17, and Section 331, “prohibits the mutilation, diminution and falsification of United States coinage.”
However, it has been the opinion of some individual officers at the Treasury Department, though without any indication of approval, the foregoing statute does not prohibit the mutilation of coins if done without fraudulent intent or if the mutilated coins are not used fraudulently.
Why pre 1982 pennies?
Before 1982 pennies had a metal content of 95% copper and 5% zinc.
The exception to this was in 1942 during World War II. There was a shortage of copper and pennies for that year were made of steel coated zinc.
Some time in mid 1982 the price of copper went up and the US Mints changed the ratio of metal in the pennies. Today pennies are made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. They are also 20% lighter.
Why uncirculated pennies?
Some people like bright shiny pennies, however sometimes it makes the engraved image a little harder to see. Pennies with a little bit of tarnish show the image better because of the contrast. In the end it’s a matter of preference, and that’s why we offer so many types of coins.
How do I get a custom coin made?
1. Decide on an image for your coin. It’s best if you have line art. For the best readability limit the text to 18 characters and spaces either above or below the image when the penny is laid out horizontally and half that when vertical. We can get more letters than that but then the image of the text gets smaller.
2. Decide what kind of coin you want. Pennies are the best value but quarters and brass tokens look neat to. It all up to you.
3. Wait 4-5 weeks for your image to be engraved on a steel roller, coins to be rolled, and shipped to you. Sometimes we can put a rush on the order but then extra shipping charges will apply.
What does it take to make an Elongated coin?
1. First we take your artwork, and we then feed it into our engraving program, this allows our engraver to read the artwork. We then clean up any issues that might pop up, we then send it to the customer for final approval.
2. Once we have the artwork taken care of and feed into our engraver, we then start engraving the die. It takes us 15-20 passes to get the images looking the way it should, this varies with designs and the details of the designs.
3. When the die is done, we then put it on to our machine, where we feed the coins into the machine. Depending on how many are needed this could take a day or two to press or just a few hours to press.
I have an odd request…
No Problem! Whether you want to order an odd number of coins or want them shipped to multiple locations, we will be happy to do whatever we can to meet your reasonable requests.
What is the shaped bar at the top of the coin and can it be removed?
The bar at the top is called a Catch Notch, No! It cannot be removed. It help the machine grab the coins and pull it thru in order to press the image on the coins.
Why do you have dot around the outside of the coin?
The dot’s help keep the oval shape of the elongated coins, we have seen line’s, hearts and other images instead of the dot’s used.
What type of shipping methods do you offer?
We offer flat rate priority mailing with the United States Postal Service, this is $6.00 and takes 2-4 days. We also offer flate rate express, this is $20.00, and take 1-3 days. We do also ship using Fed Ex and UPS, these services may or may not cost extra. We do offer free shipping with order’s over $100.00, these order’s do not inclued free shipping using Fed Ex and or UPS.
A very good quality post, very informative.
And I always thought it was just to get a cool souvenir. P90X
I never knew any of this. I have smashed pennies from almost everywhere I have been. Have faith in your fitness with Body Gospel,and Insanity