Canadian pennies for pressed penny machine?

[CindyCharming]

Can you press Canadian pennies in the pressed penny machines? I just got finished rolling our change and have a bunch of Canadian pennies. Has anyone tried?

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Can you press Canadian pennies in the pressed penny machines? I just got finished rolling our change and have a bunch of Canadian pennies. Has anyone tried?

I've never tried, but I would assume that you can, they are the same size and thickness and everything. Did you ask at the Canadian board? I think we may have discussed it over there before.

 

[jennynoel]

I'm pretty sure Canadian pennies are slightly smaller than US pennies, which may not have the best results.

Would only cost you $.51 to find out, though.

 

[bradk]

i checked with a few sources and only found the following mentions from http://www.pressedpenny.com/faq.php

Is it illegal to press Canadian pennies?

It's against Canadian laws to press a penny in Canada, since it is defacing the image of a queen. There are no laws against it in the U.S.

which of course would imply it's possible

found another from http://www.pennycollector.com/faq.html

Can I use Canadian Pennies?

Canadian pennies prior to 1997 were approximately 98% copper and 1.75 % zinc. From 1997 to 2001, Canadian pennies were modified and were minted as copper-coated zinc wafers. A recent scanning electron microscopic examination of a 2001 Canadian penny indicated approximately 96 % zinc. Today's one-cent coin, modified in 2001, should be made of copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper). So, a pre-1997 Canadian penny (aside from being illegal to smash in Canada) should give you a decent result after elongating.

Note:
Do not attempt to elongate a "Loonie" (the non-round coin). It will squish far too short and you will loose part of the design.

so 1996 and before for Canadian pennies, 1981 and before for US pennies.. for best results

 

[CindyCharming]

I've never tried, but I would assume that you can, they are the same size and thickness and everything. Did you ask at the Canadian board? I think we may have discussed it over there before.

Oh good idea, I'll do that.

I'm pretty sure Canadian pennies are slightly smaller than US pennies, which may not have the best results.

Would only cost you $.51 to find out, though.

True! It's not the money I'm worried about though, I just rather not bring down a container of pennies I can't use.

 

[bradk]

shameless bumping in case OP missed my response.

 

[pirates4]

I need some more information on the Penny Machines. Where are they located and are they all different ones? I think my kids would love that.

 

[bradk]

they're pretty much all over. for a good WDW checklist, consult with http://www.presscoins.com or get the checklist directly at http://www.presscoins.com/Listings/WDWChecklist.pdf

 

[CindyCharming]

bradk, thank you for the info. Next time I'm in Canada the locals will be impressed with my knowledge of their pennies. I guess I will be sifting through my stash for pre 1997 ones at least.

pirates, pressed penny machines are located in all the parks, DTD, and the resorts. There are also pressed quarter machines, but we are too cheap for those. They have all different designs. My son had fun getting one from each country in Epcot last year. Two countries didn't have machines though, I think they were Japan and China? I may be making this up (my memory is horrible), but I think China's machine might have been in the store right as you walk into World Showcase from Future world. Disney sells a pressed penny book to store them in, also so look for that.

 

[bradk]

according to the checklist i posted a link to above, china and japan don't have any, but every other country does.

BUT the machine inside the international traveler at the IG has a mulan coin, a china coin and a japan coin.

 

[CindyCharming]

Just in case anyone else was curious, I posted on the Canadian board and someone there tried in three of the parks, as well as Pop Century, and the machine just spit back the Canadian pennies.

Darn, I thought I'd found a clever use for my spare change!

 

[CindyCharming]

they're pretty much all over. for a good WDW checklist, consult with http://www.presscoins.com or get the checklist directly at http://www.presscoins.com/Listings/WDWChecklist.pdf

Thanks so much for posting that link, it's great! I never knew such a thing exsisted. Very helpful for working on our collection.

 

[pirates4]

BradK- Thank you for all the usefull information you give to the Dis site. You always seem to have the answer we are all looking for. This listing of the coins is great and I have already printed it out. Thanks again.

 

[AJKMOM]

Just in case anyone else was curious, I posted on the Canadian board and someone there tried in three of the parks, as well as Pop Century, and the machine just spit back the Canadian pennies.

Darn, I thought I'd found a clever use for my spare change!

We live near the Canadian border, and get pennies from Canada all the time. I wait until I have 4 or five rolls worth of US pennies, and when I roll them, I slip in a few Canadian pennies in each roll. Either that, or I take DS to find one of those fundraiser things that has the coins spin around. There is about 15 minutes of entertainment using Canadian pennies.

 

[CindyCharming]

We live near the Canadian border, and get pennies from Canada all the time. I wait until I have 4 or five rolls worth of US pennies, and when I roll them, I slip in a few Canadian pennies in each roll. Either that, or I take DS to find one of those fundraiser things that has the coins spin around. There is about 15 minutes of entertainment using Canadian pennies.

We are near the Canadian border too. Usually I give the Canadian stuff to my kids to throw into the mall fountain-- endless entertainment!

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> steel
Steel is a lot harder to stretch and crush. I've never tried it but I would expect that the post 2000 Canadian pennies would put more wear and tear on the machine. I'm not sure what years were involved but there were some problems with very late 20'th century U.S. pennies in some machines (not at Disney).

>>> loonie
Isn't this a dollar coin? You would not want to obliterate one of those in the penny pressing machine, would you?

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[disneykidz4]

i checked with a few sources and only found the following mentions from http://www.pressedpenny.com/faq.php



which of course would imply it's possible

found another from http://www.pennycollector.com/faq.html



so 1996 and before for Canadian pennies, 1981 and before for US pennies.. for best results

So, Brad . . . I had read in another post somewhere that the newer, shinier pennies produced clearer images on the pennies. Just to be clear, you read that older pennies before 1981 (?) would work better, right? I am trusting that you know what you are talking about -- you have made way more trips to WDW and been around these boards alot longer than I have. I think, now, I will have to start saving "old" pennies.

 

[bradk]

well, i don't do the penny thing. i'm just regurgitating what i read from the people that do do it.

the deal with the 1982+ pennies is that the US switched to minting pennies with a zinc core and copper plating them. what happens is under the extreme pressure of the penny presses, the zinc can start to show through and create silver streaks on the coin. prior to 1982, the pennies were mostly copper, so it's the same color throughout.

i have read someone determined that newer elongated penny machines that operate by pressing a button don't press hard enough to expose the zinc in newer pennies, but it's only a theory i've read once.

i usually refer to parkpennies.com which has a good FAQ section on this stuff. it's disneyland oriented though. presscoins.com is more WDW oriented but doesn't seem to have quite as much information.

 

[Macca1111]

BUT the machine inside the international traveler at the IG has a mulan coin, a china coin and a japan coin.

I think you may have saved my sanity BradK! It always bothered me that my collection was incomplete!

>>> steel
Steel is a lot harder to stretch and crush. I've never tried it but I would expect that the post 2000 Canadian pennies would put more wear and tear on the machine. I'm not sure what years were involved but there were some problems with very late 20'th century U.S. pennies in some machines (not at Disney).

Don't do it! I broke a machine at DL (sorry all) because we tried a steel US penny from WWII - we thought it would look neat, and it would have had it worked. However, it just jammed the machine. I felt really bad, and especially since the cast members couldn't fix it and had to wait for maitenance.

So, Brad . . . I had read in another post somewhere that the newer, shinier pennies produced clearer images on the pennies. Just to be clear, you read that older pennies before 1981 (?) would work better, right? I am trusting that you know what you are talking about -- you have made way more trips to WDW and been around these boards alot longer than I have. I think, now, I will have to start saving "old" pennies.

He already responded, but let me add my yes to that. I wrote a ridiculously long diatribe about using 1981 or older pennies. If you don't have them, it's not a big deal, but it ensures that you won't have any silver colored streaks. If you want beautiful clean pennies, I also wrote a long diatribe about that bit - short answer, jewerly cleaning cloths and coke work wonders. Let me see if I can find that post...

 

[lovesdumbo]

If you want beautiful clean pennies, I also wrote a long diatribe about that bit - short answer, jewerly cleaning cloths and coke work wonders. Let me see if I can find that post...

Would like to read your longer version of how to get beautifully clean pennies....