Sleepy said:This is not true. You do get the very penny you supply.
Actually, in Canada, they do use copper slugs, not the Canadian penny you put in. In the US, 99.9 times out of 100, you will actually be smashing your coin. It's a difference in laws between the two countries - US law allows smashing the penny since it isn't for any deceptive use, Canada does not allow their coins to be smashed. (I've been told that this is because of laws against defacing the image of the Queen, but I'm not sure of that.....)
Of course, using a copper slug means you avoid any chance of zinc streaks, so it's not an entirely bad thing. All depends how you look at your collection - does it NEED to be real coins that were smashed, or do you just like the souvenir you get? I have some Canadian versions and they're really nice.
