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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/20/2010
Posts: 84
Location: MKE
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So I'm at Cabela's in Richfield, WI, yesterday standing in front of their penny machine when I recall something I read about inserting the penny a certain way to improve the chances of getting the original coin image still showing.
I can't recall if it's heads or tails toward the machine's workings, but it's 50/50 so I insert it heads-toward (facing left). Out pops a perfect squishy and on the back, a now-flat but very legible image of the penny's front side showing Abe and the date (1980).
Admitting I have much to learn yet about ECs, how does that sort of thing affect an elongated penny's desirability? I think it's cool, and I'm surely going to keep trying to achieve that, but I'd love to hear your thoughts about it.
TEC# 4231
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Rank: Member
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Location: Pennsylvania
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Alot of collectors would rather have an elongated with the date showing for a couple reasons.
1) If the elongated design was something like "Christmas 1973" and the penny had a date of 1994, the coin is obviously a less valuable reroll.
2) Alot of people roll all their coins on a special date penny, like the year of birth, or the year of rolling.
3) Numismatic key dates add value for those who appreciate that kind of thing (like an elongated on a 1909-S VDB penny, worth over a thousand dollars not elongated.
I'm sure there are more reasons out there.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Thanks for the reply! Since I posted my questions, I've received quite a few more ECs and therefore have a far greater pool to look at. It appears that it's much more common for some residual image to remain than not, and after studying some that I didn't think had a date/image showing, I can make it out in many cases. It's really fascinating! The reasons you list are all sound, but for this newbie, I'm a long ways from using pennies with specific years yet. I'm still trying to scrounge up pre-1982 cents  Thanks again for the response, bgastfriend.
TEC# 4231
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/20/2010
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Location: MKE
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Forgot to ask: Anyone know if cleaning pennies (any method) affects residual penny images? Even though the original penny images are physical things, the residual images in some of my ECs seem almost ethereal - I can't feel anything and they appear to exist only because of the tarnish of the original. I'd hate to see that vanish after a vinegar-n-salt bath or something.
TEC# 4231
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Rank: Member
Joined: 4/7/2009
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Location: Pennsylvania
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Ironically, alot of collectors like a perfectly clean obverse, so the inscription of the elongated is easily read, and a dark reverse, so the date is visible.
Only cleaning the tails side of the penny creates alot of work, because people who clean pre-82s in any quantity use a rock tumbler.
So that is one option, using vinegar or brasso etc. on only one side.
The other option is to clean the whole penny, or buy rolls of BU pennies, and apply a brown (or other color) agent to the heads side.
There used to be a really good liquid brown shoe polish availible, but I can't seem to find it. I use Krylon spray paint meant for plastics. Spray on a bunch of coins laid out on a piece of cardboard, wait a couple hours, and you're good to go.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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As my collection grows and I have a larger sample to look at, I find I like the dark reverse. It really pulls out the residual image and, in one case recently where I was showing a woman I work with some ECs I'd received that day in the mail, helped her immediately grasp that these things are made from actual coins. She sort of half-believed me for some reason when I described how they're made, until she saw one with the Lincoln image...
Anyway, I've got several where someone definitely applied some sort of dark shoe-polish-type substance, and one with the reverse painted red, one green, before squishing.
So, bgastfriend, do you paint all the coins you press into ECs? What's your color of choice? And what happens to the paint when it ends up being the EC obverse (squished design side)?
TEC# 4231
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Rank: Member
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Location: Pennsylvania
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I use brown on pennies (and 'golden' dollars), because it looks most authentic and natural.
I use black on quarters, dimes, nickels, etc.
I guess you could choose colors based on topic... maybe I'll try a stripe of green and a stripe of red on a Christmas EC...
To answer your last question, I should clarify.
I only paint the heads side of the penny, which ends up being the back of the EC. So the tails side, which is the design side of the EC has no paint.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/20/2010
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You've inspired me to paint some pennies and try this too.
But I wasn't clear in my last question. Do you ever put a painted penny in a machine where - because of the way it rolls into the press - the painted side ends up being the obverse of the EC? I'm not experienced enough yet to know whether placing a penny in a machine a certain way always results in an EC with the heads-side on the back or not? Seems from what I've read that it's not foolproof, but perhaps that's not true?
Thanks again for your responses; this has been enlightening!
TEC# 4231
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Rank: Member
Joined: 4/7/2009
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Location: Pennsylvania
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Gotcha.
I have had reasonable success with putting Lincoln facing outwards. But in the case that doesn't work, I catch it on the first roll, and switch it around. A little bit of coin cleaner or brasso will take the brown off the front, and then I'll sell that one on eBay.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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So I take it the painted EC design doesn't look very nice? I'm planning to hit the hardware store this weekend and pick up some Krylon spray paint, by the way I might go for some wild color, like blaze orange or fluorescent pink... Should be fun!
TEC# 4231
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