news at eleven...

okay. so, if you look at the top of this penny from colorado, you'll see a pretty good example of what's referred to as the 'catch notch' of an elongated coin. basically, the way it works (in my understanding) is that each machine is equipped with two sets of opposing steel rollers called a mill. basically, imagine a train wheel on a track. anyhow, one of these mill rollers (or both on machines what print both sides) is called a 'die' and it's on this die that your final design is etched. each die typically features four different designs to give customers a choice in what their product will look like, though i have heard unconfirmed reports that smaller die rollers have been made that only have one or two designs on them. that catch notch, though is usually a universally exaggerated feature on all mills that ensures the die will have a firm 'bite' on the coin to avoid any slippage which would cause a misprint. it's not too uncommon to get a crappy, off kilter coin from a lot of machines, but in theory, this shouldn't be the case. so, through a process called plastic deformation, the coin is put under sufficient pressure to render it flatter, elongated, and with the embossed pattern stamped into it in the areas where the die was etched away. you can actually tell this is going on during the pressing process at a machine, since you'll feel a bit of resistance when you're cranking it through.
something else to note are the silver colored 'smudges' that you can see poking out through the copper on this penny. sometime after 1984, the mints started putting a higher percentage of zinc in our pennies to make them cheaper to produce, a fact that i don't suppose bummed anybody out at all unless they got a kick out of mashing pennies. as a matter of fact, the guy who was in charge of this machine was giving out pennies for the public use and acted more confused than he probably should have when i asked to use my own.
"i want to use this penny, if you don't mind, sir. it's a 1978," i said.
"but i have these right here. for you. i have a bowl of them"
"yes, but those are new pennies, and are full of zinc, and so i'd rather use my own," i said.
"oh, i don't know," he said. "i have this whole bowl i am supposed to give away".
win some lose some.....
anyhow, i don't care much for this guy. i got it at the national western stock show in denver, colorado, which was a badass way to spend the day wandering around looking at giant horses and sheepdogs tearing ass around barking at lambs. essentially, the coin itself is just an advertisement for some local news station and is devoid of any real personality. it seemed like a pretty expensive thing to do, to have a custom die made for some trinket that most nobody would ever give a rat's ass about. but, go ahead. ask anybody who went there if they still have their 'souvenir, channel 9 penny' and the only person who'll say 'yes' is going to be me.
i really do hate this penny, the soulless, smudgy turd, and am happy that i never have to 'blog' about it again.