An elephant-themed coin press machine in Adventureland

During an anniversary visit to the Disneyland Resort, I wanted to finish my collection of pressed pennies, nickels and quarters that I had started the year before. I wasn't able to get all of them then due to some of the machines being out of order or even removed offstage. So for a year, Matthew saved shiny pennies for this very event. He also typed up a list of pressed pennies that we already had so that we wouldn't duplicate them. With this list in hand and our pockets full of coins, we set off to find missing and new pinchers.

What's great about collecting pressed pennies is that it can be something that isn't too expensive to do and is a lot of fun. You can collect one per visit for as low as 51 cents or do what I did and try to get them all on one trip for a little bit more. (FYI ... Pennies are 50 cents plus the coin to be pressed. Nickels, Dimes and Quarters are each 75 cents plus the coin to be pressed.)

My favorite pressed pennies are the Lilo & Stitch ones found in Disney's California Adventure at the shops on Paradise Pier. I also like the Monsters, Inc. ones in Disneyland's Penny Arcade.

One of the best things that Disneyland sells is a special wallet to display your pressed pennies. I have 13 wallets to hold my entire collection. It appears that the Disneyland Resort has recently settled on one design for the wallets (there were two other ones previously). It sells for $5.

The Magical Milestones Penny Press Collection Book is larger than the previous wallets sold at the the Disneyland Resort. It has room for 52 pennies and 6 nickels and/or quarters.

As part of Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebrations, the resort has rolled out 51 new penny press designs honoring special occasions, icons, attractions and moments throughout Disneyland's history. One occasion from each year of the resort's existence -- 1955 through 2005 -- is represented in the Magical Milestones collection. A special souvenir penny press book is also available for purchase at various vendors throughout the Disneyland Resort to store your pressed pennies.

Each Magical Milestones penny has a special backstamp with the collection's logo and 50th anniversary dates.

Below are links to lists of all of the pressed pennies at the Disneyland Resort and where they can be found. Feel free to print the lists up and use them as your own checklists as you go through the resort. If you want to see what a particular coin looks like, just click its name on the list. The lists are accurate as of January 7, 2006. If you ever find any coin presses that I don't have, please drop me an email so that I can keep my list up to date.

Disneyland
Disney's California Adventure
Downtown Disney & Disney Resort Hotels
Magical Milestones

Also, be sure to check out PennyCollector.com for tips on the kinds of coins to use, the history of elongated coins and for more information about collecting pressed pennies.

Happy hunting!

-Story by Kathy Walker; Character images ©Disney.
Last updated June 2, 2005

Have a collectible tip you'd like to share? E-mail Kathy at kathy@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

We Were Started By A Mouse Too!  •  When In Cyberspace ... Disney Link Directory  •  

  •  Purchase Walt Disney World Tickets here - DISNEY TICKETS via DWTickets.com  •  

  •  Receive discounts on ORLANDO VACATION HOMES near Disney World from OrlandoVacation.com  •