Elongated Coins ~ Seattle World's Fair

Elongated coins are made by forcing a coin between two steel rollers under high pressure. As the coin passes through the rollers it is squished and transforms from its original round shape into an oval shape and the engraved design is impressed onto the coin. If only one of the steel dies is engraved with a design, the elongated coin has a design on only one side. If both steel dies are engraved, a design will appear on both sides of the coin.

The most comprehensive book which catalogs elongated coins is the

“ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE MODERN ELONGATED"

"A Complete and Authentic Description of Modern Elongated Coins 1960 - 1978"

Angelo A. Rosato, Author

The catalog numbers used (Lou-1, LPE-8 etc...), are from this source.

Front

Elongated Coin Holder

Century Souvenir Company, Inc

Seattle, Washington

Back

The following Elongated Cents are by Ray Loutzenhiser:

"The first elongated coin seen by Mr. Ray Loutzenhiser was at the San Francisco 1939 Golden Gate Exposition, at California. The elongated made a lasting impression on him and it was years later, during during a visit at the Washington State Fair in 1961, at Yakima, Washington, that he purchased an elongated Lord's Prayer and it inspired him to investigate the notion of becoming an elongated coin roller.

With the 1962 Seattle World's Fair in mind, Mr. Loutzenhiser purchased a machine from Mr. Charles Lorati of the original L.P. Engravers at Portland, Oregon. Information is vague, but Loutzenhiser did manage to buy up seven older dies at the time. The dies for the Seattle issues were engraved by L.P. Engravers in time for the fair, and Mr. Loutzenhiser set up his rolling concession adjacent the "Million Silver Dollars" exhibit. He did so well that a second rolling mill was put into operation six weeks after the fair opened.

It was reported that one of the rolling machines was motorized and in the summer of 1963 it was sold to the Northwest Historic Medals Inc., sponsors of the Seattle Fair. However, all dies remained in the possession of Loutzenhiser and no report was ever made as to what the new owners did with the machine.

After the death of Mr. Loutzenhiser, his wife Penny, and daughter Mrs. Joan Metcalf, continued to roll and sell the elongateds. - In September 1976, equipment and dies were sold to the Gold Eagle Coin Co., at Portland, Oregon."

Angelo A. Rosato. “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE MODERN ELONGATEDS"

US First Orbital

Designation: Lou-1

Scarce

$10.00 - $15.00

The Space Age

Designation: Lou-2

Very Common

$4.00 - $6.00

Monorail 1962

Designation: Lou-3

Scarce

$10.00 - $15.00

Century 21

Notice the position of the logo in relation to “Century”

Common

Designation: Lou - 4

$6.00-$10.00

Century 21 II

Notice the position of the logo in relation to “Century”

Slightly Scarce

Designation: Lou - 5

$8.00-$12.00

Century 21 III

Notice the position of the logo in relation to “Century”

Slightly Scarce

Designation: Lou - 6

$8.00-$12.00

The following Elongated Cents are by L.P. Engravers:

Space Needle I

Notice the flat clouds

Scarce

Designation: LPE-8

$8.00-$12.00

"The name of L.P. Engravers stands synonymously in the kingdom of elongateds. The initials indicates LORD'S PRAYER, but the full name immediately is associated to elongated coin of modern times.  However, for a span of more than sixty years the principal die designs produced by L.P. Engravers were those of the Lord's Prayer. -- The firm was organized in Portland, Oregon and fully established in 1929.

At the age of 14, in the year of 1905, Mr. Charles Lorati made his first contact with a rolling mill, where he assisted in the manufacturing of embossed medals of sculptured heads. In 1910, he built his first rolling machine. He also made his own dies using the metal steel stamps to engrave some of his earlier designs. Later he founded his own machine and engraving firm and began a semi career in rolling elongateds at various local areas such as fairs, events, special holidays, and department stores. In 1976, at age 85, he recalls rolling only on the Indian pennies which sold for 5 cents each.

-- For a period of twenty years Mr. Lorati was involved in other business activities so his son-in-law, an associate, Mr. C.C. Kemp conducted the operation. The letter "K" are noted on many elongateds especially those of the New York World's Fair."

Angelo A. Rosato. “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE MODERN ELONGATEDS"

Space Needle II

Notice the well defined clouds

Very Scarce

Designation: LPE-9

$10.00-$15-00

The following Elongated Cents were produced after the fair:

Seattle World's Fair

Jim Beam Bottle Issue #62

500 Produced

Scarce

Designation: BUN-91

$10.00-$15.00

The first formal rumblings From Warren E. Bunge's rolling machines began in January of 1967. In 1969, Warren was commissioned to produce the first segmentation of the well-known Beam Bottle series. All dies were reportedly made by Connelly Machine Works in Santa Ana, California, and each were engraved by the pantograph method: and under the direction of Jack Young at A-1 Engravers, in Los Angeles, California.

Having been a learned numismatist for more than 20 years, Mr. Chester M. Rogers purchased his first rolling machine from L.P. Engravers in 1971.

Produced in 1972 to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

Angelo A. Rosato. “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE MODERN ELONGATEDS"

10th - Seattle 1972

Produced to Commemorate the 10th Anniversary

300 produced

Scarce

Designation: ROG-68

$8.00-$12.00