Where did elongated coins come from?

As a kid, did you ever place a penny on the rails before a train came by? You know how the weight of the train rolling over the coin creates so much pressure that the penny becomes stretched and flattened. The same principle is used to create elongated coins, just without the train!

The first time anyone created one of these elongated coins was in 1892, at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois. The event commemorated the 400 th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to North America (an image of one of the coins produced at that event appears at the top of this page). The machinery that created this coin was a modified jewelry mill, ordinarily used to flatten pieces of gold to a uniform thickness. Jewelers could then shape the flat precious metal into various pieces of jewelry, like rings or brooches.

Although no one knows who created the Columbian Exhibition's elongated coin, Charles Damm is generally credited by history as the first elongated coin designer. The elongated coins Mr. Damm created were a popular souvenir from the 1901 Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York. Today, those coins are among the most rare and sought-after coins among collectors.

Today, most elongated coin making machines are found in places that have something in common with the exhibitions of the 19th and early 20 th century. Those events were popular tourist destinations in their day, just as museums, zoos, amusement parks and landmarks (like well-known bridges, dams, and buildings) are now. Almost all of these places have penny rolling machines.

The only difference between the older coins and those available now is how they are rolled. Over 100 years ago, the elongated coin maker would insert your penny into a mill that he cranked by hand, and maybe charge you a few cents more for the resulting souvenir. Today, tourists insert several quarters into slots on the side of a penny rolling machine, to pay for the souvenir. Then they slide a penny into another slot in the top of the penny roller. The gears are usually visible through the glass front of the machine, and an electric motor turns the rollers to imprint the design on the flattened coin.

Elongated coins were a popular and novel souvenir for several decades after they were first introduced in the late 1800s. The novelty seems to have worn off roughly between World War I and World War II (when metals of all kinds were rounded up for use by the military). For that reason, examples of coins between 1916 and 1932 are extremely rare. Like many "fads," elongated coins came back into fashion around 1932, and they remain popular to this day.

There are so many elongated coin designs (representing everything from amusement parks, to the US Space Program, to presidential races, to weddings and birthdays) that few collectors try to collect every design. Most collectors focus on a particular subject, such as landmark buildings or political slogans. Since any type of coin can be rolled, some collectors even specialize in particular denominations (only collecting rolled dimes or quarters, for example).

Like almost anything people collect, the value of most elongated coins is generally determined by the condition of the particular coin and the rarity of its design. Thousands of committed collectors in the United States enjoy this fun and relatively inexpensive hobby. Thousands of elongated coin designs are distributed freely each year (like those created for wedding announcements or political candidates). Less widely distributed coins, also available in thousands of designs, can be purchased for no more than $1.00. However, the most unusual and uncommon examples of elongated coins (such as those from the 1893 Chicago Exhibition) can fetch $100.00 or more at auction.

Peace Pennies aren't for sale, and their design is so new they won't become a valuable collectors item for many years to come. In fact, the Peace Penny Project was never intended to be a moneymaking enterprise. Instead, the Peace Penny's design and method of distribution were intended solely to be a way to acknowledge the bravery, honor and sacrifice of our country's men and women in uniform. The creators of the Peace Penny, Don Bice and Dave Egan, hope you and your family will appreciate your own Peace Penny more for its sentimental value than for its potential price to a collector.

Some people may be concerned about the legality of defacing United States currency, and we want to address those concerns. According to US Code Title 18, Chapter 17, Section 331, "mutilation, diminution or falsification of United States coinage" is only illegal if the intent is to use the altered coins fraudulently, or for purposes of counterfeiting. We hope this information puts your mind at ease.