Souvenir medal
A souvenir stamp or medal is a souvenir item . It is made from a circulating coin by a coin, medal or metal former by forcing it between two steel rollers.
There is an engraving (motif) on one or both rollers, and as soon as the coin runs through the rollers, the motif is pressed on under pressure (several tons). In this process, the coin becomes a flat, elliptical plate with a motif. This is why these coins are also called " Elongated Coin " in the USA , which translates as "extended coin".
Other names are embossed coin , Quetschmünze , souvenir embossed or souvenir coin .
origin
At the world exhibition Columbian Exposition 1892-1893 in Chicago there was an automat that made elliptical coins out of different coins.
In Europe
In 1898 there was the first stamping machine in Europe, in Vienna at the anniversary exhibition.
Souvenir medals can be found in almost all European countries, for example in Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. In some countries (e.g. Croatia) it is also forbidden by law to destroy means of payment.
In Germany
In 1969 there were already embossing machines on German soil. They stood during the coin exhibitions on the American military bases Ramstein and Sembach. These coins are considered the first German souvenir medals by collectors.
Today you can find machines in museums, amusement parks, zoos, churches, palaces and castles, airports, radio towers and on ships and on mountains. At exhibitions that only took place for a certain period of time, there were also machines - such coins are often rarities today. The events were usually anniversaries or trade fairs.
Some machines have had their fixed locations for years and some of the original motifs are still there. When changing from DM to Euro, however, some machines were relocated, while others received new or revised designs. For most machines, however, a very limited installation period applies.
Over 3000 different motifs are currently known from Germany alone.
Collecting
Souvenir medals are considered collectibles and are offered in flea markets, internet markets and the like. Due to the fact that it is now widespread, there are also collectors' forums and pages.
They should be kept as airtight as possible, otherwise the coins will oxidize quickly and develop a patina . Depending on the blank used, this can come either from the blank (2 or 5 cents) or from the motif itself.
The souvenir embossing machines
The souvenir coinage machines either work electrically or, as they are mainly in use today, manually with a hand crank.
After inserting a coin (in Germany and other euro countries: 2 euro cents, 5 euro cents or 10 euro cents) as a minting blank and another euro as payment (at the time of the D-Mark : 2 pfennig, 5 pfennig or 10 pfennig and 1 DM for the payment). At some locations, however, 50 euro cents or 2 euros are required as a payment coin.
As soon as the 1 euro coin has been inserted, the machine automatically begins to roll the souvenir motif of the respective attraction onto the coin.
The electric coin mint machines only have one motif. In manual coin minting machines, the blank and the payment coin are placed in a sliding device, the slide is now pushed in and the money falls into the machine (the payment coin into the cash register and the coin blank into the roller). Now you can turn the crank until the finished embossing falls out at the bottom.
With the manual machines, up to four motifs are possible, before inserting the money, the desired motif must be determined with the crank and a mostly colored arrow.
There are several companies that set up stamping machines, so the souvenir coin stamping machines can be completely different in shape, color and appearance. There are over 10 different models in Germany. The electric embossing machines are becoming less and less common because they are more vulnerable and constantly consume electricity even when not in use.
At the moment there are almost 1000 different souvenir embossing machines known in Germany. Most are owned by the manufacturers, who also take care of maintenance. In some cases, the owners of the locations (zoos, museums, etc.) receive a share of the turnover. However, the machine mainly serves them as a promotional tool, as the motifs are designed according to the wishes of the site owner. Embossers can also be purchased from the manufacturers.
There are often machines abroad where there is already a supply of (freshly minted) coins for rolling. The customer only has to insert a coin as payment.
See also
literature
- Rosato, Angelo A .: "Encyclopedia of the Modern Elongated: A Complete and Authentic Description of All Modern Elongateds, 1960-1978", Angros Publishers, 1990, ISBN 0-9626996-2-4
- Hudgeons, Marc: "The Official Guide to Coin Collecting", 2nd edition, House of Collectibles, 1981, ISBN 0-87637-173-X
- Martin, Lee & Dow, Dottie: "Yesterday's Elongateds", Third Printing, Michigan Exonumia Publishers, 2008, ISBN 978-0-945008-10-1
