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Are these a thing outside the US? For anyone who's not familiar: all over the place at tourist attractions and airports you can find mechanical presses that wi
by wasmperson 3mo ago
Are these a thing outside the US?
For anyone who's not familiar: all over the place at tourist attractions and airports you can find mechanical presses that will squish a penny with an embossed image. You pick one of 4 images, put in your penny + a couple of quarters and then turn a big crank handle until your newly pressed penny comes out the other side. You'd then collect squished pennies in a little collector's folio/pouch/thing for later viewing.
I guess now that pennies are getting phased out they'll have to "upgrade" the machines to work with other coins...
- sfdlkj3jk342a 3mo agoI saw one in El Salvador recently (they use US currency, including pennies).
- VariousPrograms 3mo agoMany traditional machines where you put in 2-4 quarters and a real penny have been phased out for credit card readers now that just drop a penny from inside the machine. It does kind of ruin some of the charm.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 3mo agoThey're not even a penny anymore; they're using copper blanks. That said, I have seen several that take a credit card (or dollar bills) but you still hand crank them, so you still get the experience.
- dawnerd 3mo agoWas just in vegas and one of them kept spitting out blanks. I have a feeling people swiped their card and didn't realize they needed to keep rotating and assumed it broke. Ended up with a whole collection before getting tired and leaving it. No telling how many more it would have spit out.
- gilgoomesh 3mo agoDestroying currency is crime in Australia, so no, this has never been a thing, here.
- fragmede 3mo agoIt's technically a crime in America too, but I guess Americans are more outlaw than Australians in that rather specific regard.
- Sohcahtoa82 3mo ago> It's technically a crime in America too I knew before even entering the comment section that someone here would be spreading this myth.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- bluedino 3mo agoIt's legal in America https://www.parkpennies.com/-dl-disneyland-pressed-coin-guide/are-penny-press-machines-legal.htm https://www.parkpennies.com/-dl-disneyland-pressed-coin-guid...
- OkayPhysicist 3mo agoOnly with intent to defraud is it a crime in America to deface US currency. Shaving a bit of the copper off every penny you touch, to melt down and profit from? Crime. Scribbling off the 1 on a $10 bill and scribbling on a 2? Crime. Cutting up pennies to show off the unmatched strength of your shitty kitchen shears? Perfectly legal.
- hackernud3s 3mo agoWhat about intent to gain power over others? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9aM_dT5VMI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9aM_dT5VMI
- 3mo ago
- zahlman 3mo agoThey have this sort of thing on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, but I think they take nickels now (since pennies haven't been minted since 2012).
- ygra 3mo agoThey do exist here in Germany as well, mostly in tourist destinations. The map does not show any outside the US, though. OpenStreetMap has 662 of them here.
- QuantumNomad_ 3mo agoI used a machine like that in Sweden or Norway once many years ago, but although it pretended to squish the coin you put into it I am almost completely sure that this particular machine was instead using a different piece of metal that was already flat and softer material than the metal in a real coin.
- jambalaya8 3mo agoThey have them in Canada, or at least they used to in 1983.
- bluedino 3mo agoFor those who have not seen one in action: https://youtube.com/shorts/HzCCsZB4jKg?is=377XKg7gUXfMHzA2 https://youtube.com/shorts/HzCCsZB4jKg?is=377XKg7gUXfMHzA2
- pezezin 3mo agoI have seen them in Japan and many European countries, but I don't remember which ones :/
- philips 3mo agoTower Bridge in London has several.
- ColinWright 3mo agoThere's one at the Leeds armoury in the UK.
- pimlottc 3mo agoThere was one in Strasbourg, France, by the cathedral
- gangstead 3mo agoDefinitely not common but I’ve seen a couple while traveling. I saw one in Gijón, Spain last week. I also remember seeing one at the Tower of London 10ish years ago.
- ernok 3mo agoLugo, Spain. At least two at souvenir shops at the cathedral. my daughter used both a few days ago :-)