The Elongated Collectors Club was founded in 1966, and since its creation has had thousands of members. Many are serious collectors, some just casual, and everyone else is somewhere in between. Then there are a few that have become synonymous not just within the elongated coin clubs, but also within the larger numismatic communities. Names like Dottie Dow, Lee Martin, and Frank Brazeel. However one probably stands out more than the rest and that is Mr. Raymond Dillard.

Born July 3rd 1925 on a farm outside of Parma Missouri, Ray was the 10th of 11 children in the family. He graduated high school in 1943 and soon met his future wife Elizabeth Stirling. They married in 1944 and raised two daughters Sherrie and Kathy. He enrolled in courses at General Motors Institute and IBM, eventually landing a position as an “office boy” at Chevrolet manufacturing. He was promoted many times throughout his career, and eventually found himself in the General Motors Central Office. He retired after 37 years with the company.

Ray started collecting coins in the 1960s, and then in the mid 1980s he began brining his elongated machine to ANA conventions. At coin shows Ray was easy to spot with his iconic blue jacket. He and his penny machine were well known at shows across the country.

He has won numerous awards including being elected a numismatic ambassador, the ANA Presidential awards, and was inducted into the Numismatic Hall of Fame in 2017.

The Elongated Collectors club also created The Dillard Exhibit Award starting in 2014 that is given out to anyone who creates and elongated themed exhibit displayed at a coin show.

I had communicated quite a few times with Ray through email over the years, and was even lucky enough to acquire some elongated coins from his collection during a period when he was auctioning some of the off. One of which was this 1893 Columbia Expo seated dime which is one of my most prized elongated coins in my collection.

I also met him a couple times at a few coin conventions including the F.U.N. show here in Orlando Florida back in January 2020. We chatted for a little while and I’m always grateful for the time he took to sit and talk. Unfortunately what we didn’t know then is that would be the last event Ray would attend.

Ray Dillard passed away on March 8th 2020 at his home in Fenton Michigan. He is survived by his daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Over the years Ray had created somewhere around 1800 coin designs. His estate is working with The Elongated Collectors to try and update his coin catalog. There were over 60 crates in his basement of all the elongated he had created over the years. This is a massive project but one that Ray would have loved to see completed, and will be an important part of elongated coin history.

When Ray passed away he had been working on the Central States Numismatic Society’s 2020 show coin. This would end up being Ray’s last project. The die for this coin was still in his machine, and a bag of rolled pennies was discovered nearby. These coins were sent by TEC officers to the CSNS to fulfill Ray’s obligation of creating the coins. The convention however was canceled due to the pandemic and the coins then sat in storage until 2024 when they were then offered at the convention in May. The design was rolled on copper U.S. cents, and depicts a steam locomotive emerging from the CSNS logo, with dates and location for the canceled 2020 show.

Friend and fellow collector Jim McNally was able to get permission and acquired some of the coins to share with other collectors. He also created a souvenir card about the size of a baseball card in an eye catching blue color that reflects Ray’s iconic jacket. The card is a great keepsake that highlights the coins unique story.

Past TEC President Cindy Calhoun said that the best tribute we can pay to Ray is to be like him. Keep smiling, pass on the joy of elongated with everyone we meet, and do what we love until the very end.

Keep on Pressing for Ray!

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