By now, it’s no mystery that you are aware of what an elongated coin is and probably have or have seen one.  Did you know that the coin goes by several names? These names include but are not limited to “Souvenir pennies”, “Pressed pennies”, “Crushed copper coins”, and the list goes on and on. But what are they really and how did one penny forever change (pun intended) the coin collecting world?

   The first elongated coins appeared in the United States at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois held in 1893. The coins came in several designs which can still be found in the elongated coin collecting community today. These and other coins known as “Oldies”, which are coins pressed between 1893 and 1904, made their debut at public events and made by private rollers. While the history of the elongated coin starts before 1901, it was the first time a elongated coin designer was named and recorded. His name was Charles Damm.

    It wasn’t long before the coins made their mark on history. With the coins being a small and reasonably cheap souvenir, the demand for them increased. Popularity was on the rise and soon came the influx of private rollers and designers around 1965. Coins pressed during this time to 1985 are referred to as "Modern Elongateds”. Many of the public fell in love with the designs available on the long flattened coins and started collecting them.

   1971 marked a new milestone for the elongated coin as this was the first year the first coin operated elongated coin machines (say that 3 times fast, shewww) appeared to the public. This also started a new class of coins known as the "Contemporary Elongateds”, coins made today still fall in this category. This caused a drastic decrease in the private rollers for elongated coins. These machines caught the attention of many public attraction owners as they seen it to be a valuable attraction tool for their businesses.

   1988 was a huge year for Randy and Earl Vaughn, from Dayton, Ohio, as this was the year they designed and built the first stand alone elongated coin machine. These machines were easy both easy to use and smaller, making them more practical for the public. The patent was bought out by a manufacturer called Uncommon Cents, now called Global Impressions USA, and they began production. Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio was the first place to own and have a stand alone coin-operated mechanical penny press machine for public display and use.

    Some people think that the idea for elongated coins came from the practice of kids placing pennies on railroad tracks. When the train would run over the penny it would cause it to become flat and misshaped. Don’t feel bad though if you enjoy smushing the shiny coppers, you aren’t in the wrong. It is legal in many parts of the United States. The statue reads U.S. Code Title 18, Chapter 17, Section 331 prohibits "the mutilation, diminution and falsification of United States coinage." The foregoing statue, 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 coins metal. So as long as they are smashed, pressed, or smushed for fun it’s all good.