I think that it would be so cool to have a penny smashing machine in my house. It'd be better if I could change out the die every time and get hundreds of different pennies anytime I wanted.
Since that isn't terribly practical, it's nice that tourist places have penny smashing machines for people like me.
When I went on my roadtrip I went to Pennycollector.com first to make sure that I did find a few penny smushing spots in their "locations" section. My friend Lynn enjoys smashing pennies, too, so she was up for finding a few locations in her area. The Strasburg Railroad was just blocks away from her home, so that was an easy find.
The next place she took me was to Intercourse, PA. Yep, there really is an Intercourse. They also have Blue Ball, Paradise and Bird in Hand. I now have an elongated penny from Intercourse.
We went to The Gift House at Kitchen Kettle Village to find the penny machine shown above. Lynn had always used the automatic penny smashers, so it was fun that she got to manually smash her own.
I got one of each of these I think. I most certainly got the one that said Intercourse, PA. (snicker snicker)
I also had to buy a new penny book as I was filling them up quickly. You can get the penny books at Pennycollector.com. Thankfully the gift shop had them available right there at the machine and they were from Pennycollector.com! (No I am not getting a commission for saying their name so often - they are just a fabulous resource for all smashed penny stuff)
If you wonder what in the world you can do with your penny once you've successfully smashed it into a long shape with a souvenir logo on it, well you have reached the right spot.
The Traveling Pratters blog had several beautiful pieces that she'd made into jewelry. It looked like at one time she had an Etsy site, but there wasn't anything in it. If you know of someone who is into jewelry making, any of these projects would be fun to make.
Pressed Penny Bracelet on CRAFT
I really like this one. It's a bit too much for me to wear, but it sure does make a statement and I like that!!
Penny bracelet or necklace on Pennycollector.com
I think this is a great idea - one penny protected in a little silicon sleeve. I have a Chicago World's Fair penny from the early 1900s. This would be a great way to display and wear the penny.
If you ever see a penny machine, go ahead and smash one! It's only 51¢ and it fits easily in your pocket.
Have a great day!
Kristin
Have a great day!
Kristin
I can only imagine how many million snickers have been generated by the I Love Intercourse penny smashing machine! I never did realize all the cool things that could be done with smashed pennies!
ReplyDeleteNice tour of the possibilities, kiddo.
did you crack-up (I did reading it) when you wrote - "I now have an elongated penny from Intercourse." It would be even better/worse if a guy wrote that.
ReplyDeleteYour post reminded me of when as kids, we smashed pennies on the railroad tracks (actually the trains did we just placed pennies on tracks and went looking for them).
I love the smashed penny jewelry! We have smashed pennies from most everywhere we go, it's the cheapest souvenir ever!
ReplyDeleteThat's usually a gift for the kids when we go somewhere. We have those machines almost everywhere we go.
ReplyDeleteI've started making these for my 5 year old whenever we go to cool places. I need to get a book for them though, for now they're just in a little box.
ReplyDeleteI still have one or two to send to you. As soon as things slow down around here!!! It is just busy busy season until after the motorcycle ride/benefit for my neice.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any in a long time.
ReplyDeleteAmber would love these. I have to save this post to show her. I think the bracelet is kind of cool and the necklace is so different.
I think she would love that Intercourse one :)