Last week two friends & I took a trip to the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) to see a couple of new exhibits. The CMOG is the largest museum of it's kind in the world & has a spectacular collection of art & historical glass. It is directly attached to the Corning Glass Works which has made important contributions to scientific glass production, telescopic glass & fiber optic glass. One of the favorite souvenirs visitors come home with is the famous Penny in a Bottle, something that baffles a lot of kids . The bottles contain one freely moving Lincoln penny in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. Puzzled kids ask "how did they get the penny in the bottle ?" Of course the bottle is made around the coin from a piece of test-tube glass. The diameter of the test-tube is slightly larger than the coin so it can move freely inside the bottle. A glass worker seals the bottom of the tube so it looks like the base of a real bottle, & after cooling drops the coin in the bottle, reheats the top of the test-tube & forms the neck & lip of the bottle. Lastly it's enameled with Corning's name. The bottles are 60 mm tall & sell for less than $2.00 each .
I have seen these made of plastic at beachside gift shops. That’s too easy... I would absolutely love to have one in glass though. Very cool.
How are you planning to take the penny out? Seriously though, this is really cool. Thanks for sharing
The Corning Museum of Glass also has some older encased coins in larger pieces in their exhibit. I recall seeing a bust dime in the base of of a nice vase. They also have a nice collection of coin glass from the 1880s and 1890s. (I used to work in the building right around the corner from the museum and at the plant just down the road)
Oldhoopster, I know the glass pieces you're referring to . They have on display antique American celery vases, circa 1825-1850, with hollow knobed stems that have have loose coins inside. The pressed glass with coin patterns are very rare & expensive. The pattern coin glass that's the most sought after has Morgan dollars on it. All these pieces have been heavily reproduced. I've got a reproduction tumbler with a Morgan dollar on the bottom . A genuine tumbler might cost $750 or more !
Still under $2? That's amazing. I don't remember what they cost when I visited as a child, it was at least 50 years ago, but it seems like they've gone up less than the inflation rate. I'm also just a little surprised that it still works with Zincolns -- but, if it's hot enough to melt them, it would've been hot enough to brown copper. Wonder if they do an argon or nitrogen purge before necking the tube?
Back in the 80's these novelties were usually found at coin shows along with the irradiated dimes, in-cased cents and elongated coins. I bought several of these during that time frame. Your post brought back some good memories. Thanks.
I too was amazed at the low price of the bottles, but they get you on the admission price of $20 . Never the less, it's money well spent . They have an excellent cafeteria that serves beer & wine too . The test-tube glass cools quickly so the coins don't loose their luster. Their gift shop is bigger than some museums I've seen.
They actually tried making coins out of glass, not just in bottles! The blanks were from Corning. https://www.coinnews.net/2017/01/06...-goes-for-70500-in-heritages-florida-auction/
That is fascinating, it reminds me of the porcelain coins made in Germany. Glass is certainly going to were longer than copper or the zinc pennies we're using now .
