Just recently I receive a nice surprise in the mail from The Elongated Collectors (TEC) club.  It was a very nice note with certificate and some great special pressed coins for recruiting some new members to the club.

The coins are different each year and can make a fun way to try and help find new members to join.

I was very happy to receive these and know that I was able to help some fellow collectors join TEC.  The members are great and always willing to share their knowledge and stories about their adventures pressing coins.  The newsletter is filled with great articles and you get plenty of unique coins throughout the year.

I’ve said this in the past but if you aren’t a member already be sure to join.  The membership fee is very reasonable but worth every penny.  Then you can start sharing your stories with the rest of the members by writing articles, and try recruiting some new members on your adventures.

There are a lot of pressed penny fans out there and I don’t think many of them know about TEC.  Thank you for everyone that comes back week after week to read about my collection, and be sure to leave a comment or any questions you may have as I always enjoy responding to everyone.  Happy collecting!!

Shortly after we got back from our recent vacation to southern Florida I received a nice big envelope in the mail.  I had not idea what it could be but upon opening it I was ecstatic.

Inside was a TEC Presidential Merit Award and a special pressed coin created just for this award.

This was completely unnecessary but very much appreciated.  Each year TEC (The Elongated Collectors) had their annual meeting at the ANA (American Numismatic Association) convention.  Our club is always trying to raise money and they have a fantastic auction at the annual meeting of items that are donated by the members.  I donated something this year and am sure it found a good home.

This blog and my YouTube channel is really a passion for this hobby that I have and I love sharing with everyone.  Anything I can do to help spread the word about TEC and pressed pennies I will do.  Thank you to Cindy Calhoun the current TEC President for this award and wonderful pressed coin.  I met Cindy quite few years ago at a TEC annual meeting in Philadelphia and she is a wonderful person and another big advocate of our hobby.

If you haven’t already please visit http://www.tecnews.org and become a member.  The fee is very reasonable (for 2018 it’s $11 a year for a digital subscription or $15 for a printed hard copy subscription).  There is a great newsletter issued each quarter, and lots of pressed coins are donated and distributed out to all the members with each issue.  This club has been a great resource to meet fellow collectors, trade tips and tricks or just read some great articles about pressed coins.

Keep on pressing!

Just recently I received a nice surprise in my mail from our fantastic club The Elongated Collector (TEC).  This is a special recruiter coin that is given out to all active members that helped recruit a new member.

I try whenever possible to share my knowledge with people about the hobby, and for those that seem really into it I always explain out TEC.  In recent years I have also started carrying around copies of the membership application so I can hand them out to anyone I think would be interested.  It’s hard not to come off like a sales person sometimes, but more often than not they sign up.  The membership fee is really quite reasonable, and as I’ve mentioned in the past you get a nice set of coins each quarter, and access to all our wonderful members.  They have some great stories to tell in the quarterly newsletter, and the various meets throughout the year are fun to attend.  Be sure to join if you haven’t already, and start recruiting new members yourself so you can get a unique coin just like I did.

I’ve written about The Elongated Collectors (TEC) club numerous times in the past, but this is a special anniversary.  TEC was founded back in 1966 which makes 2016 the 50th anniversary, and I must say is quite an achievement.

I’ve been a member for 6 years or so and really wish I had found this club sooner.  The members are a wealth of knowledge about elongated coins, and every aspect of the hobby.

The above pictured pressed coin is our 2016 membership coin which I always look forward to getting.  1966 pennies were pressed as an added detailed representing the year the club was formed.  These coins were donated by various TEC members who are always up for a challenge when it comes to the club.  The design was created by Cindy Calhoun who I had the pleasure to meet a few years ago at the ANA Convention that was held in Philadelphia.

These membership coins are only one of many that you get as part of your membership to TEC.  There is a quarterly newsletter available in either a digital format or hard copy if you prefer.  The membership fee is very affordable, and I feel well worth all the benefits of the club.  Please make sure you take some time to visit TECNews.org to get more information about the club, and you can also sign up (or renew) your membership.  Feel free to use my TEC # 4237 as a reference so they know who shared this great collecting tip.  I really feel that my passion for the hobby has only grown stronger now that I know how many other people are just as obsessed.

What are you waiting for go sign up now!!

I have a lot of things to write about and so little time to get them all posted.  I was a little behind from our trip to Florida earlier this year and most weekends since my family has gone on little day trips and have visited lots of penny machines.  I promise to get them all posted but in the middle of doing so I received a special surprise in my mail yesterday from TEC.

For those of you that don’t know TEC is The Elongated Collectors Club.  I have been a member for at least 4 or 5 years I think.  It’s a great club if you are interested in the hobby of pressed coins.  You get a quarterly newsletter, and special pressed coins with each edition.  There is a small membership fee but to be honest between the newsletters, coins and fellow member’s always available to help give their advice and expertise on the subject it is worth every penny.

So as I came home from work yesterday my mail box was partially open due to a large envelope stashed inside.  The address label listed my name and my daughter Hanna’s name along with my TEC member number so I knew this was club related.  I waited until I got inside the house and called Hanna over to see what we had received.  What we found inside was really a wonderful surprise that I was totally not expecting.

TEC had honored Hanna and myself with each a cute reward that was accompanied with a special pressed penny.  Hanna’s award was for being the “Newest member of TEC News in 2013”.

Hanna’s special penny had a carousel horse on it and the Editor’s Award for TEC 2013.  I can only imagine that there aren’t too many of these coins out in circulation so this is a really unique gift.

My award was for Writing articles for TEC News in 2013 and 2014.  One of the articles I wrote was about a trip my wife and I had taken when my wife was pregnant with Hanna.  Our doctor’s had asked if we had planned our Babymoon which is like a honeymoon only you go on a trip before the baby is born.  Who knew.  We visited Lake George in upstate New York and of course there were numerous penny machines there so I wrote about the experience and TEC graciously printed it in one of the newsletters.  It’s really a great experience to share your penny squashing adventures with others who are interested in the hobby.  Those first few articles I wrote for TEC are really what started me on this Blog adventure.

The coins I received included the same Editor’s Award for 2013 that Hanna did, but I also received the 2014 design.  Even through I’ve been a member of TEC for a handful of years I’m still always surprised at the things they do for their members.  Any time I’m at a penny machine and see someone who looks interested I make sure to have extra TEC membership application on hand and try to share the knowledge with whomever I can.  If you aren’t already a member please go and visit TECNews.org and check it out.  The website has lots of information available for free without being a member, but there are a lot of perks to the membership.

I’m not sure if anyone from TEC reads these posts but just in case Thank you for these little tokens of appreciation.  Hanna and I really enjoyed them and have them hung up on our wall for all to see.  These weren’t necessary but will be treasured.  Thank you again for everything you do and keep up the good work on spreading the news about our hobby!

So far my 2015 has been off to a great start when it comes to my pressed coin collection.  It seems like every day since watching the ball drop in New York at midnight I keep receiving envelopes in the mail with coins waiting for me.  Today I received one of my most anticipated coins each year.

In previous posts I have mentioned that I am an active member in The Elongated Collectors (TEC).  For those of you that are pressed coin collected but are not a currently members of TEC, you simply must join.  I have been a member since 2010 and wish I had found out about this great club sooner.  The wealth of knowledge from the members is amazing.  Anything you want to know about the history of elongated coins, or how to create your own designs, tricks of the trade, or just trying to find some great people with a similar interest in the hobby this is the club to be a part of.

As a member of the club you get a quarterly newsletters filled with great information and articles from other members about any number of topics including my favorite “personal coin pressing trips”.  Included with the newsletters are always some unique pressed coins that in most cases you can only get by being a member.  About a year or so ago I started trying to save some trees and help the club save on postage by requesting the digital version of the newsletter which arrives in my email as soon as it’s available each month.  Then usually a few days later my special coins arrive in the mail and that is exactly what showed up today.

The coin that I really wanted to show off was the 2015 Membership coin.  Each year a new design is created and pressed on a nickel.  I have a special binder in my collection just for these membership coins as I like to keep them all together.  Hopefully TEC won’t mind me showing this coin off as I’m really proud to display it and thought by letting you check it out it may help you decide to become a member.

If your interested in learning more about TEC please check out the website www.tecnews.org.  You can even fill out a membership form directly on the website.  There is a small membership fee but this does include the newsletters, coins and you also help support a great organization.  Feel free to list that you were referred by TEC Member #4237.  This won’t get you any special treatment (sorry) but TEC always likes to keep track of how all the members find out about the club.

As the old American Express commercials used to say “Membership has its rewards”.  This is certainly true of TEC.