Pressed Pennies w Canadian Pennies???

[braydensmom]

Not trying to start an ethics debate over this, but wondering if I am able to use Canadian money in the Pressed Pennies Machines at WDW? canadian pennies are usually cleaner and i can even clean some before we head on our trip.

 

[yxe dad]

Pennies will work, I've never used Canadian quarters so I can't tell you if they work????

 

[3guysandagal]

As far as I know, Press Away!!
But we always have soooo many US pennies, we grab the shiniest we can find.
I think we did it once or twice as soon as we arrived with Canadian.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

ummm, how do I put this. The "pressed penny" you get is not the penny you put in. you get out a pre-made "penny" (copper slab)

you cannot destroy u.s. coin or currency in a machine such as that.

it is a bit of "machine" slight of hand (claw?) that you think the penny is smashed flat.

If you think about it, a machine such as that would need a heck of a lot more power and pressure to be able to do what you think it does!

 

[yxe dad]

I got the following from www.pressapenny.com/faq.htm


Is it legal?

The most commonly asked question, and most misunderstood. The basic answer is Yes. We have two basic versions of our machines: the US model that allow the user to put in their own penny, for markets where the law allows; and the International model equipped with a coin hopper inside of it that delivers its own coin to the press when the user puts in their money. The law varies from country to country, but we have machines for both circumstances.

Also from their website:

Fun Fact

A penny press typically exerts 15 tons of pressure to “squash “ those pennies. A series of gears starting with a small one and getting larger and larger as they go enables your hand effort to be multiplied many, many times and attain the necessary pressure.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

yeah, one of the jobs I had MANY years ago was to fill the machines with the "blanks"

the machines are the same ones as at WDW!

also 18 USC 331

 

[tiggerrr]

Canadian quarters will not operate the machine, but Canadian pennies will press in the machines.

You do want to use as clean a penny as possible because you get a better press. Also, some people prefer to use only pennies that a fully copper. US pennies started using copper-clad zinc as pennies in 1982; Canada started in in 1997. If you use one of these more recent pennies, you can get "silver" streaks in the penny as the zinc shows through on the press. Some people aren't bothered by that. I am. I only use pre-1982 US pennies.

As for whether the penny you put in is the one you get out, I can say with confidence after collecting a couple of hundred, that you get what you put in. You put in a dirty penny, you will get a dirty imprint. Put in a 1984 penny, you will get silver streaks. Put in a 1981 penny, you will not. You can even see the faint imprint of the raised part of the penny on your pressed version. Put in a Canadian penny, you will see the Canadian imprint. You do not get a fake penny.

Copper is a soft metal that is easily pressed.

 

[tiggerrr]

I got the following from www.pressapenny.com/faq.htm


Is it legal?

The most commonly asked question, and most misunderstood. The basic answer is Yes. We have two basic versions of our machines: the US model that allow the user to put in their own penny, for markets where the law allows; and the International model equipped with a coin hopper inside of it that delivers its own coin to the press when the user puts in their money. The law varies from country to country, but we have machines for both circumstances.

And so the machines at WDW must be the first type (the US model). They require you insert your own penny coin and that is the one that gets pressed. There may be the type that delivers its own coin somewhere on property, but I have never seen one yet.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

in your quote, you didn't get the whole thing.

it ALSO says that it is illegal, under canandian law to deface a coin in any way.

 

[caisland]

Canadian pennies work, just not as well as U.S. pennies. Cdn coins seem harder and don't stretch as long as U.S. pennies so sometimes the image loses some of it's expected shape.
Get pre-1985 or so U.S. pennies for best effect.

 

[braydensmom]

Thanks everyone.... Great help!