|
What is an Elongated
Penny?
What is the history of the
Elongated Penny?
Is it legal?
Why pre 1982 pennies?
Why uncirculated
pennies?
How do I get a custom
coin made?
I have an odd
request...
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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, shipped to us, coins to be rolled, and shipped to
you. Sometimes we can put a rush on the order but then extra shipping
charges will apply.
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. |
