Smash a penny!

January 7, 2005 3:54 PM

Ever seen those penny smashing machines? You can join a club, visit a museum, get you own custom penny, or get your very own machine. Oh, yeah, it is perfectly legal. You can trade here, or look for machine locations in the U.S. and abroad. How 'bout a MetaFilter smashed penny? They really are America's Best souvenir.
posted by fixedgear (13 comments total)

I have one from every US city where I found a machine. I wasted a lot of pennies in San fran just because there was a machine in Chinatown that put a dragon on the back.
Still, doesn't quite beat the old lay 'em on the tracks before the tram comes smashing.
posted by dabitch at 4:13 PM on January 7, 2005

The anythreewords guy will also make you one of those metal typer coins if you can make a good argument for why you need one.
posted by jessamyn at 4:25 PM on January 7, 2005

Thanks, jessamyn. I haven't seen one of those machines in years, though I do smash pennies all the time. I'll have to beg for one!
posted by fixedgear at 5:18 PM on January 7, 2005

If I'm spending 50 cents on ANYTHING, it better at least come out smelling like a Mold-A-Rama!
posted by santiagogo at 6:27 PM on January 7, 2005

This is awesome. If I had any money I would buy one of those presses so I could squish it.
posted by nathanrudy at 6:48 PM on January 7, 2005

thanks for this post!!! i need a penny passport to hold the 2 pennies i have. now i want to become a collector; ha ha.
posted by mgkaelen at 11:48 PM on January 7, 2005

We were just in the Henry Ford museum, and they had at least 8 mold-o-ramas. They cost a buck each (not 50 cents). We made moldss of the Wienermobile and the Rosa Parks Bus.

Ahhh, the smell of freshly molded plastic took me back to my childhood days, getting mold-o-ramas at places like Weeki Wachi.
posted by mach at 1:04 AM on January 8, 2005

cool, anyone know if they'll deliver custom pennies to the UK. or even better if someone in the UK does custom pennies. Thought it would be a cool idea for gifts to all the guests at my wedding
posted by lloyder at 7:55 AM on January 8, 2005

I can't see why they wouldn't ship custom pennies to the U.K., and I agree it would make a great wedding favor. Here goes a possible UK source.
posted by fixedgear at 11:28 AM on January 8, 2005

I did the tourist thing when visiting Sea World and Busch Gardens in Fla. a few years ago; I must've gotten half a dozen pennies flattened with different designs stamped on their backs. They cost me $0.51 each as I had to supply the pennies too!
posted by aedra at 5:27 PM on January 8, 2005

lloyder: The original post link says: "We Ship Internationally!" So if you can't find anything in the UK, these guys should come through for you.
posted by aedra at 5:32 PM on January 8, 2005

Squished pennies? Meh. Coin implosion is what all the cool kids are doing now.

(Check out the Lichtenberg Figures too.)
posted by Leon at 10:24 PM on January 8, 2005

Coin implosion? Nahhh - melt that penny with solar power. (I've done thise - it's really, really important to wear welding goggles - on days when the sun is less direct (spring, autumn, winter), I've done this with lead split shot, which turn liquid in a few seconds)
posted by plinth at 8:17 AM on January 10, 2005