Penny Press Machines!

These two examples here is from when I was visiting Disneyland with a family member. I think this was back in 2011. What a great time we had that day!

I don’t travel or go to “destination-locations” much, but when I do, one of things that I enjoy most when I visit somewhere, and is quite common at various tourism and attractions spots like theme parks, is the Penny Press machines.

What is the penny press machine? Well, it’s a machine that will accept a U.S. Penny and two U.S. $0.25 quarters (or maybe four quarters depending on where you are at); you insert it into the designated slot in the machine and you then crank the handle as you watch the gears rotate and the penny press surface “press” against the penny, stretching and imprinting the design to turn it into a copper and zinc souvenir work of art!

This penny press is from the M&M World store on “the Strip” from my first visit to beautiful Las Vegas in Summer 2012. This was a neat store that had all things M&M’s related. Despite not being much of a casino games type of person, I had a wonderful time that weekend in Vegas. I was even more surprised that there was a “Ross Store (Dress For Less)” on the Las Vegas Strip. Good times!

Penny Press machines are quite an awesome thing. It’s an interactive process where you have an actual participation in helping shape and create the souvenir piece right in front of you. Sure, you can always buy merchandise at the gift shops of the tourist places or theme parks you’re visiting and I’m all for it if you can financially afford and believe it will bring joy, and not clutter, to your life (I know I bought a few things from the theme parks’ gift shops that I’m definitely glad I purchased…after as much financial consideration as I possibly can without it being overwhelming while I’m at the theme park and whether it was going to bring joy to myself or someone I was buying it for).

Penny Press machines, on the other hand, are quite inexpensive and allow you to at least create a little souvenir piece that you can take home with you. It takes up very little space, so little that you may have to place it in a frame or sleeve of some sort (theme parks sells coin press album that you can collect your coin presses in, sort of like a photo album or a scrap book, but with penny press pieces). And it’s not going to break the bank or your wallet as you may already have the loose change coins required in your pocket or purse.

These are penny press pieces from my visit to Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time back in Summer 2019. It has The Simpsons designs. How an animated series owned by Fox Entertainment that now has Disney as a parent company, but still has a theme park ride owned by Universal Studios is going to work out business-wise, I do not know. I just know that these penny press machine pieces are awesome and I’m glad I got to press these pieces. Get one while you can if you’re in the area.

I don’t know if any penny press pieces are of any great monetary value, but they do have added value on your initial $0.51 (or $1.01 in some instance if I recall correctly). Just a browse on eBay would yield prices that are at least a few dollars on top of what you would have spent to make these pieces.

Sometimes, penny press machines get retired or otherwise pulled out of use at theme parks and tourist attraction destinations. I suppose the pieces made with these machines can then be considered “discontinued” and may have a “rare item” appeal and could bring a higher value. But I’m no expert. I’m just a person that really like penny press machines and I highly doubt any of the penny press pieces I’ve made will make me wealthy. Sure, if it brings enough for a down payment for a house, I’m all for it. But until then, I will continue to appreciate it for what it is: awesome souvenir pieces made using interesting manual gear driven machines during a wonderful visit.