How I Wrote a Technical Book on Extracting Stuck Pennies from 1960s Coin Tubes (And How You Can Too)

Writing a technical book changed my career. But not in the way you might expect. My book isn’t about AI or software. It’s about getting stuck pennies out of 1960s coin tubes. Yes, really. What started as a collector’s frustration became a full-blown technical guide — and landed me a deal with O’Reilly. Here’s how I turned a tiny, niche problem into a published book. And how you can do the same with your own obscure, expertise-rich topic.

Why a Stuck Penny Became a Book Idea

Most people see a stuck penny and give up. Or try brute force. I saw something else: a real-world materials problem. PVC tubes from the 1960s shrink over time. Pennies don’t. That mismatch creates friction, pressure, and frustration. But it also creates a perfect case study in material science and systematic problem-solving.

The real value wasn’t the coins. It was the engineering behind safe, repeatable extraction — thermal expansion, mechanical stress, chemical safety. That’s what makes a technical book work: turning a simple problem into a structured investigation.

The Science Behind the Stuck Coins

Those old “Shrinky Dink” tubes? They’re made of PVC. And PVC expands and contracts more than copper when heated or cooled. That’s the key.

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• Copper CTE: ~17 ppm/°C

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• PVC CTE: 50–100 ppm/°C

Heat the tube — even with just boiling water — and the plastic expands faster than the coin. That tiny gap? That’s your window to free the penny. Freezing? Usually fails. Plastic gets brittle, friction stays high.

In my book, I turned this into Chapter 1: “Why the Gap Matters.” I tested every method with real tubes, thermometers, and calipers. No guesswork. Just data.

Here’s what actually worked:

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• Thermal differential: 100°C water bath for 90 seconds. Plastic expands, coin stays put. Gap forms.

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• Mechanical release: One firm tap (never a smash) on a rubber mat. Uses inertia to break static friction.

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• Chemical options: Acetone *can* work — but only on certain PVC blends. 72-hour soak? High risk. 2-hour soak? Safer, but slower.

From “I Tried This” to “Here’s the Method”

Everyone online says “try acetone” or “freeze it.” But no one tests it. I did.

I built a simple test framework — like lab code for physical extraction:

// Thermal Extraction Trial
function testThermalFix(tube, temp, time, tapForce) {
  heatTube(tube, temp, time);
  if (gapDetected() > 0.1mm) {
    const success = applyTap(tapForce);
    logResult(tube, success, gapSize);
  }
}

This became Chapter 4: “Designing Repeatable Experiments.” Engineers, restorers, and collectors loved it. They don’t want opinions. They want methods they can trust.

Structuring the Book: Like a Manual, Not a Memoir

Technical readers want structure. So I built the book like a toolkit — not a story.

Part 1: What’s Broken

• Chapter 1: How 1960s coin tubes were made — and why they fail
• Chapter 2: PVC vs. polyethylene vs. Meghrig — which reacts how?
• Chapter 3: Shrinkage, galling, cap fusion — the real failure modes

Part 2: How to Fix It

• Chapter 4: Heat-based extraction (with temperature charts)
• Chapter 5: Tools that work — and which to avoid
• Chapter 6: Chemicals — when they help, when they harm

Part 3: Beyond One Coin

• Chapter 7: 3D-printed spreaders and custom tools
• Chapter 8: Preserving coin value — ethics of extraction
• Chapter 9: Scaling up — what to do with a stack of 50 tubes

O’Reilly loved this format. They called it a “first principles approach to physical problem-solving.” That structure signaled: this isn’t a hobby guide. It’s a resource.

How I Pitched — and Sold — the Book

Most proposals get ignored. Mine didn’t. Here’s why:

• Niche focus: No book existed on coin tube extraction. I proved it with a 10-page competitive analysis.
• Audience proof: “Stuck coin tube” gets 10K+ monthly searches on eBay. r/coins has 500K members. The demand was real.
• Social proof: I included peer reviews from numismatists who tested my methods. One called it “the only rigorous guide in existence.”

My O’Reilly Proposal Snapshot

{
  "title": "Extracting Legacy: Advanced Techniques for 1960s Coin Tube Recovery",
  "audience": "Numismatists, conservators, material engineers",
  "gap": "No technical manual addresses this $15M/year problem",
  "value": "Data-driven methods, safety protocols, tool designs",
  "platform": "2,000+ followers, 3K newsletter subs, active YouTube"
}

I positioned myself as both a collector and a former materials engineer. That combo? Rare. And compelling.

Building an Audience Before the First Chapter

Publishers want authors who can sell books. So I built a crowd — early.

• Blog posts: I wrote 12 articles on Medium. Titles like “Why 1960s PVC Tubes Shrink (And What to Do About It)” pulled in readers.
• YouTube demos: Short, clear videos — “Boiling Water vs. Freezer: 5 Trials, 1 Winner” — went viral in collector circles. (With full PPE, of course.)
• Free lead magnet: “5 Safe Ways to Free Stuck Coins” PDF. Collected emails. Built a 1,200-person list before signing.

By the time O’Reilly called, I wasn’t just a writer. I was a trusted voice in the space.

Writing the Book: No Inspiration. Just Routine.

Writing a book takes a year or more. You won’t feel inspired every day. That’s fine.

My Survival System

• 90-minute morning blocks: No distractions. Just write. Scrivener kept the structure. Obsidian kept the research.
• Every method, visualized: Photos of cap fusion. Diagrams of thermal expansion. Risk charts for solvents.
• Beta readers: 10 experts — engineers, conservators, collectors. Their feedback saved Chapter 8 (Preservation Ethics) from disaster.

No magic. Just consistency.

Which Publisher Fits Your Style?

Not all publishers are the same. Pick the right one for your voice.

• O’Reilly: Wants books that cross disciplines. Mine worked because it mixed numismatics + materials science.
• Manning: Loves deep technical detail. They asked for Python scripts to model thermal expansion. (I added them in Appendix B.)
• Apress: Prefers practical, tool-focused guides. They pushed for checklists and safety warnings. (Now Chapter 10.)

I chose O’Reilly for reach. Their platform (Safari, O’Reilly Online) puts books in front of engineers, scientists, and collectors. Perfect for authority-building.

Your Turn: Write the Book Only You Can Write

You don’t need a huge topic. You need a specific problem, a methodical approach, and a real audience.

Start here:

1. Pick your niche: What obscure, technical problem do you *really* understand? (Mine was PVC shrinkage. Yours might be circuit board desoldering or film development chemistry.)
2. Test, don’t guess: Turn opinions into experiments. Measure gaps, track failures, document everything.
3. Build early: Write, film, share. A free guide, a blog post, a video. Prove people care.
4. Structure like a manual: Problem → analysis → solutions → ethics. Make it useful, not just interesting.
5. Match your publisher: O’Reilly for breadth. Manning for depth. Apress for practicality.

Authority isn’t handed out. It’s built — one clear sentence, one tested method, one engaged reader at a time.

So what’s your stuck penny? What problem have you solved that no one else has written about? Start there.

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