Pressed Pennies: Inexpensive and Collectable Souvenirs

Since my name is “Penny” you’d think that pressed pennies would’ve been a life long collection. Nope. It started for me at Disneyland in 1989. I got my first two smashed pennies (Mickey Rays) at the penny arcade on Main Street USA. I wore them in a pair of penny loafers during my college years. Finally the shoes wore out, and I had the presence of mind to salvage my “Mickey” pennies. They floated around in a jewelry box until I got serious about collecting the elongated pennies and purchased a collectors album. Over the years I just happened to acquire 35th anniversary and 45th anniversary pennies. So I was eagerly looking forward to getting a penny celebrating the 50th anniversary. I wasn’t able to attend that year, but my sister (who truly loves me) promised to look for one for me. Come to find out, they had an entire collection that celebrated the 50th anniversary. Fifty different pennies, one for each year. My sister set about the enormous task of collecting the entire set for my birthday. Here we are only 5 years later, and I’ve seen a 51 penny, 50th anniversary set (one extra penny to display the engraved back, which my sister also got for me), for sale on-line for $300. I kid you not, Three Hundred Dollars. I looked on Ebay and did find it for less, only a mere $175. Considering it costs fifty-one cents each for the pennies, for a total of about $26 and another ten or so for the book, somebody is making a killing on these things.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Elongated coins, pressed pennies, or smashed pennies, whatever you call them; they are a great little souvenir. First of all, they are cheap, 51 cents. Two quarters and the penny you are smashing. There are machines all over the park now, unlike in 1989 when I smashed my first, so there are lots of collecting opportunities. They are easy to carry around with you after you purchase them. And in some cases, they can become worth more than what you paid for them.

I often enjoy the challenge of just stumbling upon the machines as I tour the park, but if you are serious about finding them all, stop by City Hall on Main Street USA and pick up a listing of machine locations throughout the entire resort complex. The time I did, opened my eyes to machines that were in less obvious places like the Disneyland Hotel. Since that was a visit when we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel, I was very happy to acquire that penny.

Oh, and a tip before I end. Use pennies from before 1982, they are all copper and not mostly Zinc like more modern pennies. That way you won’t end up with a “silver” line around the pressed image.

For more information check out http://www.parkpennies.com/

The Disney Vacation Planning DVD

Since this item is often advertised on my blog, I want to make clear that I am not in any way trying to increase my revenue by asking you to click the links on my blog!  That would violate my agreement with Google Adsense, (my asking, not you clicking, so if you want to click, go ahead!) and I don't want them mad at me. 

That being said, the Free Disney Vacation Planning DVD is a pretty cool thing!  They are really good about not sending you a bunch of other spam or junk mail if you order it.  It covers both Disneyland in Anaheim, and Disneyworld in Florida.  It highlights that year's special events, like Halloween time, and the Christmas Holidays.  This year's will give some details on the "Give a Day, Get a Day" program. And they will talk about any new additions to the park or major refurbishments that will open during the year.  The DVD is available on the Disneyland website.

I like to order (or my husband will order me one) every year.  I just sit and watch it, and maybe shed a sentimental tear.  Okay, so I am a little more sentimental than the average person, at least about Disneyland.  But it really is a magical place for a fantastic family vacation, and the DVD reminds me of why those things are true.

Indiana Jones Adventure 15 year mark

Today marks the 15th year the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction has been operational at the Disneyland® Resort. I talk more about specifics of the attraction on the Disneyland® Park Attraction Summary page. However I thought it would be fun to highlight the anniversary by posting the card that was handed out to guests when the ride first opened. It's a cipher key for the writing that is all over the walls in the queue area. The font is known as “Mara” and can be found on the Internet if you do a search. According to Disney Parks Blog post, the language is called “Maraglyphics”. The post is a fun read, and worth checking out.