Canadian coins and pressed pennies?

[CanadianMomofTwo]

I'm wondering if anyone knows if Canadian coins work in the pressed penny machines?

My kids LOVE these machines elsewhere, and I've seen good tips to bring a tube of quarters and pennies to WDW to have on hand for them. It would be easier for me to just bring Canadian coins than to track down rolls of US coins, but I'm wondering if they will work in the machines? As far as I know, they are really close, if not exactly the same size right?

 

[kwannabee]

good question! I want to know that too!!

I already bought them a little package of mini mm's in the little plastic tube, so now they have somewhere to keep the coins in. Do the machines take either/or pennies and quarters?

 

[roxysmum123]

Not sure about us vs cdn coins but the machines need both quarters and pennies. The pressed pennies are 50cents plus the penny you press, but there are also quarter machines that press quarters however they cost more to use.

 

[Gigi22]

Hmm--my memory about this isn't exact, but I think I saw something about pressed pennies in the Budget Board a while ago. There was some discussion about which U.S. pennies make the best pressed pennies. Apparently the U.S. changed the composition of the metal used in their pennies and it affected how they work.

 

[Polydweller]

And the laws in our two countries are different. In Canada it's illegal to deface a Canadian coin, which pressing is. In the US it is allowed if it isn't for fraudulent purposes. So use a Canadian coin it's illegal, American it isn't.

That's the law but not likely to be pursued or proven. Just an interesting fact.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I would have agreed with Polydweller, put then I read this

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=426715

So maybe in the US ... its best to deface Canadian coins ...

 

[CanadianMomofTwo]

Huh. Interesting that it's illegal in Canada... we go to African Lion Safari (near Hamilton ON) and they have them there.

I think I'll just bring Canadian coins, and if they don't work we'll find a way to get some extra change while we're there.

Thanks!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

hmmm, intersesting, there also used to be a penny press at peggys cove, not sure if its still there or not tho.

i seem to remember reading somewhere- possibly on here that the canadian coins jam up the press machine and they don't want ours being used. we just use the us coins. fyi several of the locations also have a change macine beside them, rite now the only one that comes o mind is the one at splash mountain. also any of the stores will make change or sell you a roll of quarters for the machines.


and of course this comes with good timing....before we left i was tearing the house apart looking for my list from may checked off with what we already had, no go no matter how hard i looked. we went dec 22 to jan 6. guess what we just found on the table? yep the 18 page list. grrrrrr!

 

[My 2 princesses]

The CN Tower has a machine as well. If my memory is right, I think for this machine you don't put in a penny, you just put in a loonie and it give you back a pressed penny. So in essence, we are not defacing the penny or any money, the machine is, LOL!!!

I found that in some machines on this trip, the imprint on the penny was looking cut off, so there must be something with new and old pennies as PP said. And since in Disney they can sell ice to Eskimos, you will have no problems getting a CM to break down a note for you.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

If memory serves I think US coins dated 1983 and earlier are best for pressing. Of course you'll be hard pressed (LOL) to find many with those dates anymore.

To find american quarters I went to the laundry facilities in my resort. They had change makers on the wall. To get american pennies I went to the gift shop the first night we checked in. The CM was happy to hand over 25 pennies in exchange for a quarter.

In terms of defacing coins, I know there are pressing machines at Black Creek Pioneer Village which is run by none other than ... the government.

 

[LittleFlounder]

I have used Canadian pennies in the WDW pressed penny machines and they worked fine. ... I'm not sure about quarters because I used U.S ones. I asked for them at a gift shop...just handed the CM a couple $1 bills and they were happy to give me quarters.

 

[vacation_junkie]

Just a little tip..wash your pressed pennies in Ketchup, it cleans them up and makes them "sparkly new" as my DS says
Put them on a plate in some ketchup over night and in the morning they will be clean!

 

[caisland]

Older US coins are softer and give a better press. New cdn have to much harder metal and don't stretch out as well. I've tried both.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Also Canadian pennies are a slightly different in shape. Most of the machines I have seen in Canada either have US pennies or copper disks the size of pennies in them already.

 

[tiggerrr]

I'm wondering if anyone knows if Canadian coins work in the pressed penny machines?

My kids LOVE these machines elsewhere, and I've seen good tips to bring a tube of quarters and pennies to WDW to have on hand for them. It would be easier for me to just bring Canadian coins than to track down rolls of US coins, but I'm wondering if they will work in the machines? As far as I know, they are really close, if not exactly the same size right?

We collect the pressed pennies. I've got about 200 of them over several trips to the WDW. I have a list of every one in the parks and we knock off a few each trip. Here is what we know:

Canadian quarters will not operate the machines, so you will need US quarters to run the machines. For machines that press pennies, a Canadian penny will usually work. However, some of the machines are getting older and the Canadian penny is just slightly different enough that the press can be off (a bit). Try one. We use US pennies only. Be aware that there are a few dime press machines showing up at WDW now, and you will need to use a US dime on those because the dimes are pretty different between the country.

As for the year of the penny to use. The US switched from an all copper penny to a copper plated zinc penny in 1982. Before that date, you get a great press, all copper. Pennies after that date can often show a silver colored streak as the zinc shows through on the press. This is far more noticeable if you use a hand-cranked machine.

Canada switched from mostly copper to copper-plated zinc in 1997 and then to copper plated steel in 2000. It's definitely easier to find pre-1997 Canadian pennies than pre-1982 US ones.

Don't know if that helps your decision.

Also Canadian pennies are a slightly different in shape. Most of the machines I have seen in Canada either have US pennies or copper disks the size of pennies in them already.

Definetly seen that too at a lot of places, where they load blank copper for the press. WDW definitely uses your coin though - you can see it pressed. I go through the effort to clean my pennies thoroughly for WDW because of this reason.

OP, have fun, collecting can be addictive though.

 

[CanadianMomofTwo]

So the ketchup trick... do you clean them in ketchup before or after pressing?

I'll get a bunch of quarters at checkin or at the park, but perhaps look for some older (pre 1997) Canadian pennies and bring them.

I was just thinking 1997 isn't too old at all... but it's 15 years! That's a sign I'm getting old ;-)

 

[tiggerrr]

I always clean before.