Pressed Coins - Click Here to go to The Penny Machine Company for Souvenir Penny Machines

Pressed Coins: A Historical and Modern Collector's Item

Pressed coins are a delightful way to create an inexpensive but beautiful souvenir from a vacation or favorite location. They are highly prized as collector’s items and are important to the vacation experiences of many people. Generally, the process of pressing and elongating a coin involves an interactive machine with which collectors can select a design they want on the coin. The coin is then passed through steel rollers and, under tremendous force, an image is pressed into the coin as it is elongated. The result is a beautiful memento that can be carried every day or added to a large collection.

The history of the pressed coin began at the 1892-1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America. These coins were very simple compared to the ones seen today as they simply had the date and event on them. Pressed coins were quite popular until 1916 and were present at most expositions and large events. Popularity picked back up again when people began issuing private designs and they became prized collectibles. Today, many amusement parks, zoos, national landmarks, and cities have penny machines that visitors can enjoy. These machines provide memories for the customers as well as extra revenue for the owners.

A popular pressed coin machine company is The Penny Machine Company, also known as pennybiz.com. They have a wide selection of penny machine designs, such as bamboo, metal and wooden cabinets, so there is a design that will fit any décor. They can also customize cabinets to represent the location and the branding of the company using the machines. The Penny Machine Company has a professional engraver to provide the dies used for the pressed coins. In turn, the designs are of high, 3-D quality and great detail. The company also has souvenir medallion and tag engraving machines available.