Railroad track coins

3stars · January 20, 2015 10:41AM

Anyone have any photos of a coin thats been run over by a train? Curious as to what they look like and how stretched they get. Ikes??

AUandAG · January 20, 2015 10:53AM

Not a safe thing to recommend to anyone. They come shooting out like bullets sometimes.

No pics but have made a few. Just squished pennies.....look kinda like those one made in amusement parks.

bob

BAJJERFAN · January 20, 2015 10:58AM

<< <i>Not a safe thing to recommend to anyone. They come shooting out like bullets sometimes.

No pics but have made a few. Just squished pennies.....look kinda like those one made in amusement parks.

bob

>>

elongated cents

OldEastside · January 20, 2015 11:02AM

Like AU says, its not a safe practice, however I worked 30 years
in lumber yards and many had a spur and they will turn into a
oval shaped piece of flat metal, that's is if you can find them after

Steve

Bayard1908 · January 20, 2015 11:10AM

I found one about five years ago, don't know if I still have it or where it is. It did look much like an elongated cent from the novelty machines.

drwstr123 · January 20, 2015 11:11AM

Duplicate post-error

drwstr123 · January 20, 2015 11:15AM

<< <i>Anyone have any photos of a coin thats been run over by a train? Curious as to what they look like and how stretched they get. Ikes?? >>

Bayard1908 · January 20, 2015 11:27AM

COALPORTER · January 20, 2015 11:30AM

I used to set cents on the railroad tracks but the problem was that I could rarely find them
after the train had past. Usually a penny would about double in diameter and still be somewhat
roundish. if I recall, the design would be almost removed.

PipestonePete · January 20, 2015 11:54AM

My buddies and I flattened many coins over the years on the local tracks. Some would be totally destroyed and occasionally one would flatten out but retain most of the details. Here is an Ike I placed on the tracks years ago. What I can't explain is how the letters "TED ST" from the reverse side were imprinted on the OBVERSE.

coin4sale · January 20, 2015 12:15PM

I vaguely recall when as a kid waiting for trains on family trips we would do this and sometimes stack a couple coins on top of each other before putting on the tracks... When the train came they FUSED together in a long stretched out elongate!

Lakesammman · January 20, 2015 12:29PM

What a flashback - used to do this as a kid but didn't save any of the flattened coins.

Had completely forgotten about it.........along with jumping the train in to town.

edix2001 · January 20, 2015 12:33PM

I've got a few dimes run over by the Long Island Railroad, but no pics. My brother and I made these as adults and pop could hardly believe our stupidity.

richbeat · January 20, 2015 2:02PM

Sorry, no photos. Seems like most of us have done this at some point. I have a flattened cent that was run over by a Norfolk & Western (this was in Virginia in the 1970's) freight train. I had to look quite a bit but I found it. A few years back, my oldest son gave me a flattened nickel that was run over by a Union Pacific freight train. Still have it.

SaorAlba · January 20, 2015 8:36PM

I have a set of coins flattened by the Southern Pacific 4449 steam locomotive when it toured central California years ago. I also have some older Jeffersons that I have found alongside the tracks - as noted above sometimes they can shoot out from the tracks and can be difficult to find.

Dentuck · January 21, 2015 12:04AM

I remember the train tracks out back of my sister's house in New York. I'm
sure I put at least a couple coins on there to see what happened. Don't
recall ever being able to find them afterward.

I remember being warned when I was a kid: "Don't put pennies on the
tracks; they can derail a train!" I stopped doing it after I heard that, although
deep down I felt it couldn't possibly be true.

ricko · January 21, 2015 12:43AM

Yep....hard to find... but we did it several times. Trains run right through the small town I grew up in..... and this was a fun summer activity. Did not save any that we did find... and never put silver on the track... in those days, silver could buy quite a bit.... ice cream cones were a nickel, there was penny candy and a burger, with fries, for a quarter...Cheers, RickO

PerryHall · January 21, 2015 1:53AM

A long time ago it was common practice to put coins on the track to flatten when a train came through carrying a famous person. The coins were put in an envelope and labeled with the date and the nature of the event. As an example: "Coin flattened by the funeral train carrying President Lincoln to his final resting place." It was a neat souvenir but too easy to fake so it really only had value to the family making the flattened coin.

Railroad track coins

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