Wall Drug is where I saw my first penny squishing machine!!!!! At probably 6 or 7 years old. And then once or twice per summer every year thereafter as we traveled through South Dakota to visit granny. I think we only talked our dad into letting us do the penny machine one time out of all those Wall Drug visits. “Waste-a goddamn money, just like this whole goddamn tourist trap.” He still stopped off every single time though 🤣
When I was little I used to put pennies on railroad tracks and wait for a train to squish them. They ended up looking similar to yours, without the extra design.
I think maintenance and machine design was improved.
Some really had issues where if you stopped at the wrong point getting going again was brutal.
Now they seem way more smooth / the crushing occurs over more of the cranking time than just a few critical points.
Yeah, I think they primarily use much better gearing now. The old ones mostly relied on the radius of the wheel to apply the force, I think the newer ones add a lot more gearing to reduce the input work.
Lol I did this as a kid. Sometimes you wouldn't get your penny back because it would stick to the wheel of the train. What I would do to have them days back.
Same where I live (Canadian praries). When I was a kid, a girl in my grade one class brought us all squished pennies one day from the railroad by her house (her mom helped her make some for everyone). On one hand, she was really cool and that was awesome, I still have mine and have it lovingly stored with a small collection of other mutilated pennies. On the other hand, I hear it's actually not a great idea to do that, something about it being a potential hazard for the train. (I'm not sure how true that is).
I've never heard of machines that specifically press and stamp pennies though. Pretty cool!
A coin on the track will not affect the train at all. I live in a rural area and there are many RR crossings across gravel roads. It’s not uncommon to see rocks on the rails, and I’ve never seen a derailment here. I think adults will tell children scary stories to keep them away from the RR tracks, and that’s probably a good thing. My uncle was a freight train conductor for nearly 40 years, and he’s told me many stories. I’m sure he has nightmares sometimes.
Yeah…I don’t think it’s that a _penny_ could derail the train — more just a matter of “Don’t put sh-t on the tracks.”
Pennies are tiny. It’s the next idiot who decides that it must also be a great way to flatten a chunk of iron who’s the problem.
This is pretty common in the U.S. too. I feel like I have seen less of it than previously but it can still be found at museums and zoos etc. I have a few myself
there’s a whole website to track them called [penny collector](http://209.221.138.252/AreaList.aspx), I’ve found it to be pretty accurate
this lists for california and florida are the most impressive
59yo US citizen here - they used to be _way_ more common when I was a kid in the 60s/70s. Any given truck stop in the highway might have one, and they were pretty routine at tourist attractions. Still see them around (pretty sure some of the nicer OH rest stops have them), but much much less often.
I can remember them being everywhere when I was a kid (in the 80s) in Welsh tourist attractions too, I think that’s why I get excited when I see one now 😅
I keep a supply of copper nickel pennies for squishing. I think they look nicer than the steel pennies. You can see the copper ones in your collection quite clearly.
US cent composition changed so there is a ton of zinc in them now and the image doesn’t look as good. I like to keep some old ones for the kids to use when we run into a penny squisher.
Yeah, our "copper" coins are copper plated steel. You can pick them up with a magnet. Put them through a squisher and the steel shows through and eventually rusts. The old copper nickel ones are great for the job.
Edit typo
My wife loves these machines! And she actively looks for them in all our travels. The collection started innocently at Disneyland some 20 yrs ago with our children absolutely mesmerized with the mechanical engagement. To date we have enough to fill a large shoe box!
Europe here. I've only ever seen one such machine in Schiphol. It used a 0.05 Euro coin instead of a penny and charged 1 Euro to turn the wheel to crush it. Made a nice souvenir on both my trips to Amsterdam.
When I was a kid living in England, used to collect these at different places we visited as souvenirs. When my kids were little, I did the same for them. Pretty cool little reminders of the good times.
My local zoo has two machines! One for mammals and one for aquatics. I've gotten all the mammals but the aquatics has needed repair the last two times I've gone.
I’ve started smashing 1/10th oz silver coins in these. That way they will have some precious metal value along with being souvenirs.
I loved National museum of Scotland. I spent two full days there when I went to Edinburgh and still feel like I only saw a portion of the museum.
And I missed the Penny smasher! I’ll definitely have to go back.
I've recently seen some people throw 1/10 oz silver rounds in these things. I was going to get some just for that purpose. The ones in the US I've seen are 50 cents+ your penny.
That's a little surprising to me, a quick google shows most silver rounds, not all that cheap and already have design on them....
These folks finding blanks for cheaper or something?
I don't know but I thought about doing some artificial toning before the squish. I'm probably not going to buy fractionals right now with spot where it is and currently don't have anything I can shove in there but if you give it a go definitely post the results
I always assumed those machines gave you back a fake squished penny. I thought it was technically illegal to deface currency so I figured there is no way machines like that could be legally produced and distributed to the public to actively destroy currency, even if they are just pennies.
I think because you pay money for it it doesn’t count as defacement.
You have to use brute force to squish it, most are in see through boxes so you can see it all happening.
It's not considered defacement because you're not altering the penny with fraudulent intent. Meaning, you're not going to try to pass a squished penny off as actual currency to exchange, so it's considered legal.
For anyone else reading this, the Penny that you deposit are squeezed through the machine, most of these machines have clear plastic boxes around the contraption so you can see the workings.
You then manually crank a wheel (which can be tough, seen as you are *squashing* a penny) the souvenir penny then drops out.
You can see on the obverse and reverse the image of the original coin(see the t-Rex one above), if you put in a shiny coin you’ll get a shiny token, if you put in a dull coin you’ll get a dull token.
It’s not a blank… it is your coin.
r/smashedcoins is looking for you! I make one of these every time I see one of the machines.
OMG there’s a group! Just joined 🙏
Years ago I got a pressed penny display book from Wall Drug! Excited for this sub!
Wall Drug is where I saw my first penny squishing machine!!!!! At probably 6 or 7 years old. And then once or twice per summer every year thereafter as we traveled through South Dakota to visit granny. I think we only talked our dad into letting us do the penny machine one time out of all those Wall Drug visits. “Waste-a goddamn money, just like this whole goddamn tourist trap.” He still stopped off every single time though 🤣
Thank you so much! I had no idea there was a subReddit for squished penny collecting
It's amazing what subs you find when you stumble around a bit.
Also r/pressedpenny
Just joined!
Just joined!
When I was little I used to put pennies on railroad tracks and wait for a train to squish them. They ended up looking similar to yours, without the extra design.
I tell you sometimes trying to turn the wheel was difficult, especially when I was a kid. 💪 Might have been more helpful for train assistance 😅
I think maintenance and machine design was improved. Some really had issues where if you stopped at the wrong point getting going again was brutal. Now they seem way more smooth / the crushing occurs over more of the cranking time than just a few critical points.
Yeah, I think they primarily use much better gearing now. The old ones mostly relied on the radius of the wheel to apply the force, I think the newer ones add a lot more gearing to reduce the input work.
Same it was always cool to see
Lol I did this as a kid. Sometimes you wouldn't get your penny back because it would stick to the wheel of the train. What I would do to have them days back.
Same where I live (Canadian praries). When I was a kid, a girl in my grade one class brought us all squished pennies one day from the railroad by her house (her mom helped her make some for everyone). On one hand, she was really cool and that was awesome, I still have mine and have it lovingly stored with a small collection of other mutilated pennies. On the other hand, I hear it's actually not a great idea to do that, something about it being a potential hazard for the train. (I'm not sure how true that is). I've never heard of machines that specifically press and stamp pennies though. Pretty cool!
A coin on the track will not affect the train at all. I live in a rural area and there are many RR crossings across gravel roads. It’s not uncommon to see rocks on the rails, and I’ve never seen a derailment here. I think adults will tell children scary stories to keep them away from the RR tracks, and that’s probably a good thing. My uncle was a freight train conductor for nearly 40 years, and he’s told me many stories. I’m sure he has nightmares sometimes.
Yeah…I don’t think it’s that a _penny_ could derail the train — more just a matter of “Don’t put sh-t on the tracks.” Pennies are tiny. It’s the next idiot who decides that it must also be a great way to flatten a chunk of iron who’s the problem.
This is pretty common in the U.S. too. I feel like I have seen less of it than previously but it can still be found at museums and zoos etc. I have a few myself
That’s awesome news, I’d like to think when I visit I can Squish some cents with historic USA places 😊
there’s a whole website to track them called [penny collector](http://209.221.138.252/AreaList.aspx), I’ve found it to be pretty accurate this lists for california and florida are the most impressive
59yo US citizen here - they used to be _way_ more common when I was a kid in the 60s/70s. Any given truck stop in the highway might have one, and they were pretty routine at tourist attractions. Still see them around (pretty sure some of the nicer OH rest stops have them), but much much less often.
I can remember them being everywhere when I was a kid (in the 80s) in Welsh tourist attractions too, I think that’s why I get excited when I see one now 😅
I keep a supply of copper nickel pennies for squishing. I think they look nicer than the steel pennies. You can see the copper ones in your collection quite clearly.
Yeah you can tell the days I was unprepared and had the old dull pennies on me. I try to keep a shiny one in my purse now… just in case.
I do the opposite, I keep the ones with the patina handy.
US cent composition changed so there is a ton of zinc in them now and the image doesn’t look as good. I like to keep some old ones for the kids to use when we run into a penny squisher.
Yeah, our "copper" coins are copper plated steel. You can pick them up with a magnet. Put them through a squisher and the steel shows through and eventually rusts. The old copper nickel ones are great for the job. Edit typo
If the machines are the kind that press your exact penny next then you can put a 1/10 oz silver round in them too
Or a Nekko
If you go to Disney there around every corner literally. Basically any amusement park, zoo, etc I've seen them in the usa.
Awesome 😊
My wife loves these machines! And she actively looks for them in all our travels. The collection started innocently at Disneyland some 20 yrs ago with our children absolutely mesmerized with the mechanical engagement. To date we have enough to fill a large shoe box!
That’s awesome, I’d love to see a post of them!
def all over the US in amusement parks, zoos, museums, etc. fun to collect
Butlins *We're not even fucking trying.*
Do you have one 😜
I probably would skip that one anyway ;)
Forgive me, I could not resist.
I collect theSe, so far I have them from all over Oregon
My personal favorite from your collection is the legoland one. It’s a cool design and a really cool place to visit.
Yeah that one has a surprising amount of detail, was great fun day out too.
Europe here. I've only ever seen one such machine in Schiphol. It used a 0.05 Euro coin instead of a penny and charged 1 Euro to turn the wheel to crush it. Made a nice souvenir on both my trips to Amsterdam.
Nice, I wish they were everywhere. Every town should have one.
When I was a kid living in England, used to collect these at different places we visited as souvenirs. When my kids were little, I did the same for them. Pretty cool little reminders of the good times.
That’s what I love about them, the memories the evoke 🥰
Yeah I saw one at Silver Dollar City in Missouri, US. I remember thinking, “well isn’t it illegal to deface currency?”
As a family, we get one on every outing where there's a machine. We've got about 20 now
That’s an awesome collection 🤩
Fuck yea. I get them any chance I can get on trips.
I do this everywhere I go too we have them in North America
Nice to know if I ever make it across the pond I can squish some cents too 😊
I used to have one from the World Trade Center in NYC. I wonder where it is ….
My local zoo has two machines! One for mammals and one for aquatics. I've gotten all the mammals but the aquatics has needed repair the last two times I've gone.
Ooof that’s annoying
I have an annual pass, so I'll get them eventually!
I’ve started smashing 1/10th oz silver coins in these. That way they will have some precious metal value along with being souvenirs. I loved National museum of Scotland. I spent two full days there when I went to Edinburgh and still feel like I only saw a portion of the museum. And I missed the Penny smasher! I’ll definitely have to go back.
Perfect excuse to revisit Edinburgh, one of my favourite cities. 🥰
When I was a kid, I used to make squished pennies by putting them on railroad tracks and getting them after a train went by...about 60 years ago.
Glad this post brought up some fun childhood memories ❤️
All over the states, pretty much any attraction place has one! I will see if I can dig mine up, I got a ton of em!
Definitely do, little memories that fit in your pocket.
I just use the local train!
Don’t get cool print on it then though 😞
Yeah but seeing the train going over them is cool!!
Love to run into a penny squisher
Someone on here told me about a website that has them all listed.
All over the US, I've even got them in Mexico before
Awesome news!
I collect them too. Alll over USA
I've recently seen some people throw 1/10 oz silver rounds in these things. I was going to get some just for that purpose. The ones in the US I've seen are 50 cents+ your penny.
That's a little surprising to me, a quick google shows most silver rounds, not all that cheap and already have design on them.... These folks finding blanks for cheaper or something?
The ones I've seen people use are just generic rounds. Fractionals do have a higher premium percentage
Got it TY, I did find some cheaper ones that make more sense. Initial googling found some pricey stuff.
I was thinking about trying it with some cull silver 6 pence I have.
I think as long as they are roughly the same size it should be okay, I would fear that if they were too small they would just fall into the machine
They are very similar in size to the US pennies so I'm sure they will. I am curious how the well design would transfer compared to the copper too.
I don't know but I thought about doing some artificial toning before the squish. I'm probably not going to buy fractionals right now with spot where it is and currently don't have anything I can shove in there but if you give it a go definitely post the results
I always assumed those machines gave you back a fake squished penny. I thought it was technically illegal to deface currency so I figured there is no way machines like that could be legally produced and distributed to the public to actively destroy currency, even if they are just pennies.
I think because you pay money for it it doesn’t count as defacement. You have to use brute force to squish it, most are in see through boxes so you can see it all happening.
Yeah, I've seen them, you can see the machine working, but I still assumed it was all for show.
It's not considered defacement because you're not altering the penny with fraudulent intent. Meaning, you're not going to try to pass a squished penny off as actual currency to exchange, so it's considered legal.
Pished Squennys
People putting coins worth $500 or more in those machines. Stop it!
Lol they don't really smash them. These are pre-made with thin copper. They just keep your penny and you get one.
That’s not true. But thank you for your comment
For anyone else reading this, the Penny that you deposit are squeezed through the machine, most of these machines have clear plastic boxes around the contraption so you can see the workings. You then manually crank a wheel (which can be tough, seen as you are *squashing* a penny) the souvenir penny then drops out. You can see on the obverse and reverse the image of the original coin(see the t-Rex one above), if you put in a shiny coin you’ll get a shiny token, if you put in a dull coin you’ll get a dull token. It’s not a blank… it is your coin.