Pressed Pennies

[spoiled_momma]

Could someone tell me about how many of them there are at Disney? Trying to figure how much to take for the machines.
Also how much are they are they .50 cents plus the penny?

thanks

 

[kaabost]

yes, they will cost you 51 cents. I have no idea how many there are. Each machine usually has 3 or 4 different designs. A few machines have repeat designs. I took a roll ($10) of quarters and 20 pennies and didn't use them all. But I also only got one design per machine. I suppose it depends on how hard you look for the machines.

 

[MichelleC]

They are EVERYWHERE! At all of the parks.

Yes, .50 plus the penny. I'd start witha roll of quaters. There's sometimes change machines around, too.

I think www.wdwig has a penny page with info.

 

[Horizons16]

If you want to get the good pennies get the ones pre 1986 i think it is. And get the cleanest ones. IF they are pre86 they have zinch i believe and that helps press better~

~Steve

 

[Mary007]

Anyone with a good hint on how to make the pennies shine?

 

[Horizons16]

well i have heard people say ketchup i have tried it but its ehh paint thinner takes it out too. Just be careful because thats a painful thing to get on your hands.
I have also heard of bleach yet never tried it.

~Steve

 

[wparry]

You can clean your pennies with anything that has a mild acid in it. Vinegar will work but smells. Lime Away is good also.
You can get a listing of the machines at :
The Elongated Coin Collector site:
http://www.liss.olm.net/ec/disney/

 

[MelanieC]

This year I also noticed they were selling books that hold the pressed penny collections at WDW.

Disney has definately picked up on another way to make money on people who collect! There are machines everywhere!

Melanie

 

[spoiled_momma]

i just found out that soy sauce will clean pennies up.. Also ketchup or salt mixed with any acidic liquid like lemon juice will clean them up I am going to try and I will let you Know

 

[epcotfan]

Actually you want pre-1982 pennies that are copper, not zinc. After 1982 the pennies were made with zinc. The zinc tends to smear. Although I have found new pennies to be pretty good looking.
To clean them I dip them in vinegar for a minute or two and then scrub them with toothpaste and warm water. This seems to be the only solution that gets them really clean.
I've tried oxyclean and jewelry solutions to no avail.
On my last trip in August I notice many of the old penny machines had been replaced with new ones. Many of the pressed penny sites online are outdated. I have heard of guests asking at guest services for a print out of the penny machine locations.

 

[AprilsZoo]

For cleaning the pennies try Brasso. But wear gloves to protect your hands.

 

[betterlatethannever]

As far as I can tell, there are about 300 penny and quarter designs (not machines) at WDW.

Many of the pressed penny sites online are outdated. I have heard of guests asking at guest services for a print out of the penny machine locations.

So true. Even the list we got at MK this weekend was not correct?!!! There are pressed penny machines in Toontown that are not on the list. At least one has baby characters (MIcket, Minnie, Goofy).

At least my wife isn't collecting pins.LOL

Ed

 

[Muffy]

Yes, they are everywhere and .51! A real bargain if you collect them!

 

[Tig]

Yes they do sell little books that you can keep your pennies in. I bought one last August and it is 3 sections...2 for pennies and one section for the quarters. Very nice. BUT DONT MAKE THE MISTAKE I DID--- I bought it on the way out of the park on my last day and when I was ready to put my pennies in, I had mis-placed a few of my pennies.

BUY ONE AS SOON AS YOU GET THERE and then pull it out to put your new penny in as soon as you get it. That will also help you know which one you have and dont have. I made that mistake too !!

I just started penny collecting a few trips back and I am gonna start cleaning some pennies now for my Jan trip!!!

I LOVE THEM PENNIES!!!!!

 

[Lynn-Marie]

You can also clean pennies with Taco Bell taco sauce. Just clear out some from "that" drawer in the house... pour them into a bowl, let the pennies sit for a few seconds and then rub the taco sauce off of the penny. Some friends of mine who worked there through high school were at once amused and scared to find out that truth.

 

[NHMickey]

I just got back and saw these machines everyplace. But The two I saw at the camp ground were not working... I used to collect coins as a kid and we cleaned our coins with coke or pepsi. We let them sit for a while and the acid effect cleaned them up nice and clean.

 

[hopemax]

This started out such a cheap hobby! When my parents went at the end of October, they went down with enough quarters and pennies to press what we needed (anything released after June 2001). $100 each later...

They've replaced many of the penny machines at the hotels with new designs. In general, each hotel has 2 penny machines with 3 designs each. So that's 6 pennies, and then each hotel has a quarter. Some hotels have more like the Contemporary and the All-Stars. The parks also have gone wild on the quarter machines, and those are $1.25 each (very annoying because the DL machines are only $1 each).

The link that wparry gave is the most accurate list. Even if some of the designs are different, it is the best in terms of where to look for the machines. Like at the Grand Floridian you have to look around 1900 Park Fair, but then there are more pennies at their Bus Stop, and if you want the quarter you have to look at the monorail platform.

Here are a couple other links if you are curious about what coins were available in the past.

http://www.geocities.com/wdwpennies/

This one has quite a few pictures of variations

http://ecfanatic.homestead.com/wdw.html

As for cleaning, I used lots of things. Used to use Brasso, but when you are cleaning in volume it is a pain. Tried vinegar up until a non-pre 1982 got mixed in with a batch I was soaking, I got distracted so they sat overnight, it reacted with the zinc and if anyone did that wonderful little science experiment...the zinc part was slowly getting eaten away. Now I soak them in a bit of Weinmen's Instant Tarnish remover and then clean them with a bit of copper cleaner. Both of these are available at the grocery store, they're used for cleaning the bottom of copper pans.