O O O
 O O O
O O O

nearby pennies touching. By the fewest number of legal moves, transform the pattern into the pattern

   O
  O O
 O   O
O O O O

nearby pennies touching. A legal move consists of sliding a penny, not picking up a penny, without disturbing the other pennies, to a new position touching at least two pennies.

My step 2 would disturb the other pennies.

4 moves should be easy, though.