Today we are heading over to EPCOT and around the World Showcase to the France Pavilion. The penny machine we are on the hunt for has had an interesting past and this latest versions is kind of a surprise but we will get to that shortly.

We don’t have to go too far just past Canada and the United Kingdom we cross a bridge into a classic french village.

Home to many fan favorites like a wide variety of wines, grand mariner slushies, chocolate croissants, and gorgeous pastries.

For a long time this pavilion was primarily know for the patisserie and restaurants, only have one attraction the Impressions de France movie experience. That all changed in 2021 with the opening of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure a really fun and cute family attraction. I was there for opening day of the ride hoping to find a brand new penny machine but there was nothing new. You’d think after all these grand opening’s I’d realize that new penny machines aren’t a Disney priority.

Here we are almost 3 years after the opening and finally we are getting the new designs we had hoped for. However the machine is not located in the back of the pavilion near the Remy ride, instead you have to head into the original heart of the pavilion.

Behind the Chefs de France and Monsieur Paul restaurants is Les Halle Boulangerie and Patisserie. This is really the main gift shop for the pavilion.

Head to the back of the gift shop near the Kidcot Table and you will find the new 8-design pressed penny machine. Now in the past there use to be a mysterious 2-design penny machine in this location. However if you looked closely at the die in that orignal machine you would notice 3 designs. That’s due to one of the penny designs only being available for an interactive game you could play in the pavilion. A Secret Penny if you will and I’ve posted all about it here. The game has gone through a few different versions from Kim Possible, to Agent P from Phineas and Ferb, and now it’s themed for DuckTales.

Collector’s were hoping to see this machine updated and there were posted of an updated Secret Penny design in the machine but not yet active with the new game. We are hoping to see this other machine return at some point, during this trip however it was no where to be found. I even kept close watch at the dies inside the machine but no secret design is in there.

The designs available in this new machine I thought would be all about Remy, yet only a couple were of the famous Chef Rat. Here we see other designs including Princess Aurora, Belle, Parisian Minnie, Mickey with the Eiffel Tower, Mickey & Minnie, and an absolutely adorable design of Marie from Aristocats.

On top of the machine I also found a new pressed penny booklet. It’s white and pink and adorned with all your favorite Princesses and Heroines. At the time of writing the cost was $14.99 should you be interested in one to display your collection.

This was a fun new set and it definitely looks like each of the Country Pavilions are moving forwards these new 8-design machines. There are only a few left that don’t have one so we will definitely be on the lookout for those to change in the near future. Will that Secret Penny come back, I really hope so because I think it’s such a unique way to press a penny. Keep on Pressing mes amis!

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Not too long ago I had an outing with some High School Hockey team alumni that happened up in Jacksonville Florida. This was quite a drive from the Orlando area, but I arrived safely and with some extra time on my hands. Being the ever vigilant pressed penny collector I quickly checked one of my main resources pennycollector.com and sure enough there was a machine near by.

Known as MOSH the Museum of Science & History was located just on the outskirts of the downtown area. I’m a sucker for any type of museum so I park around back, purchased a ticket and headed inside.

When I was young we had a Natural History museum in my home town that I absolutely loved. I’m pretty sure that’s where my obsession with dinosaurs came from. Plus mix in some science experiments and I knew this was going to be a fun place.

The main floor was mostly themed around local Florida wildlife, including this area that was pretty dark but I think was to mimic like we were under water. There were skeletons of manatees, dolphins and plenty of information on turtles and other marine life.

I was hoping to see a lot of dinosaurs but there was only this one. It was still a great one and that pose was kind of intimidating. I’m always taken back by just how large these incredible creatures were.

In this enclosed area which I assume is probably used by a lot of school trips and educational visits had more Florida wildlife only the smaller sized friends like snakes, lizards, and even some birds.

Time to head up to the second floor and I was immediately sucked into the Space section. There were quite a few interactive exhibits for kids (and grownups) to learn with and even had a rover you VR you could drive. Eventually I found myself in the NASA section with some replicas of Neil Armstrongs spacesuit, some space rocks, and even models of the various rockets throughout the space programs history.

The other half of the second floor was dedicated to the history of the Jacksonville area. I really loved this section. It started with the history of local native tribes, colonization and continues up to the twentieth century. There was an area setup like an old town where you would walk among all the different store fronts. Each window gave a glimpse into that era and had items and products from the time period on display.

As I exited the History of Jacksonville area I literally almost walked into the museums pressed penny machine that was just around the corner.

The cabinet design and color for this machine was fun but not too wild. I still think that science museums especially should have really intricate penny machines almost like a Rube Goldberg Machine that had a bunch of crazy moving parts (useful or otherwise) before your penny drops into the bottom. I’m sure this is way too much work for the revenue it may earn. Or maybe it would make the machine that much more fun and popular to use.

The pennies pressed a little short but thankfully most of the images still appeared on the pennies. There isn’t much different between these, really just the museum’s logo with a different icon for the “O” and separate tagline. I guess it could be worse and these could have just been very generic “science museum” designs however it would have been nice if these were a little more diverse.

I didn’t have a ton of time to explore the museum, but what I did experience was great and I would love to bring my kids here sometime in the future. Keep on Pressing!

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Flashback to the summer of 1993. I was 14 years old and went to see one of the most unbelievable movies that remains to this day one of my favorites. Not only was it the first movie I remember with incredible surround sound, but dinosaurs that looks so incredibly real on the screen. Jurassic Park became an instant classic and to this day I love watching that original version.

Now here we are in 2023 and I can’t believe it’s been 30 years. To celebrate Universal Studios Florida has continued with their Summer Tribute Store and this time it’s all about the 30th Anniversary of Jurassic Park.

Before we head inside however I did want to mention this very details Triceratops that is ummm..having a bit of stomach ache. Thankfully there is no giant pile of…well if you watched the movie you know. This is Trixie and she’s had quite the adventure. Originally she was located in the Boneyard at Universal Orlando along with some Jurassic Park vehicles. Then she was donated to the amazing Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee which has been her home for the last 20 years. Currently she is temporarily on loan to Universal to help celebrate the Jurassic Park anniversary.

As we enter the Tribute Store the first room is themed around the Production Office with all sorts of models, and concept designs covering the walls and staged production desks.

Universal does a great job including so much detail and even little placards with some information about what is on display. I was told these are no original props, but models based on originals which honestly is probably a good idea. There were lots of people getting pretty hands on with some of these items.

The second room was setup with a few different photo opportunities with some classic scenes from the movie. The above is still one that gets me every time as the Raptors are tracking the children all around that stainless steel kitchen. They even had the large ladles dangling on hooks so you could recreate the scene in exact detail.

This next one was certainly a favorite for guests, and you don’t even have to be a “Blood-sucking Lawyer” to experience what it’s like to have a giant T-Rex tower overtop of you while you sit on a toilet seat.

The last room after we walked through the Jurassic Park arch was where you could find some of the unique food items.

There was quite a selection of sweets like Dino Cupcakes, S’mores, “Dirt” Cups and even a sweet treat with a scantily clad Ian Malcom printed in chocolate on top. By the looks of this display this was a very popular item.

This room also had a large wall display of classic merchandise that was available all around the world. They included things like newspapers, magazines, toys, VHS tapes and not quite coin related but my eye was drawn to these SkyCaps that kind of reminded me of those old POGs I collected as a kid.

I’m sure by this time you will have your arms full of items for purchase and the check-out area is just near the exit doors. This is also where you will find the Souvenir Medallion machine kind of hidden in the corner, but you shouldn’t have any trouble spotting it.

This machine does offer four brand new designs for collectors. The cost however has been kept at the original $5 per coin, or $15 for the full set of four. I’m surprised this hasn’t changed yet, or maybe they forgot to update it so get them while you can.

The designs on each coin include images of the classic Jurassic Park Arch entrance, John Hammond’s Hat and Glasses stating “Spared No Expense”, the original of Dino DNA that Mosquito stuck in Amber, and a simple JP logo with a T-Rex.

The reverse image on all the medallions is the same, and has the classic Jurassic Park logo with Universal Studios across the top, and the 30th Anniversary Banner just underneath.

As I mentioned I’m a huge Jurassic Park fan so this was really a treat to get to experience and enjoy all the details they included for us in this special Tribute Store. I enjoyed reenacting some of those classic movie scenes and of course the new medallions are fantastic. This version of the Tribute Store will be open through July but after that it will start its transformation into the HHN version so don’t wait too long if you are interested in these coins. Keep on Collecting

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Today we are back with a quick showcase of another very special privately designed elongated coin. In the past we have reviewed all different types from theme park related designs, to national donut day, but today we are checking back in with our friend Michael from Hawaii. Back on June 11th, 2022 there was a special anniversary and Michael designed a coin to commemorate that day. Let’s help celebrate this holiday King Kamehameha Day with a set of coins.

Excerpt from Michael’s King Kamehameha Day Coin Set:

On December 22, 1871 King Kamehameha V proclaimed a national holiday to honor and celebrate his grandfather and the father of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Originally, the people of Hawai’i wanted to mark the legacy of Lot Kapuaiwa (Kamehameha V) on his birthday, December 11. Being the humble chief that he was, he opted to honor his grandfather instead and pushed the holiday as far away from his (Lot’s) birthday as possible, hence the arbitrary date of June 11. Thus, June 11, 1872 was the very first Kamehameha Day holiday ever celebrated.

The set I ordered included a full denomination set of coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter) and also a collectible chip. Michael has an amazing catalog of Hawaiian elongated coin sets similar in style and amount of detail to this one. If you are interested in checking out any of Michael’s available sets I have included a link to his Facebook group page here.

Thank you for checking out more privately designed pressed coins with me. As always Keep on Pressing. Mahalo!

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Many of us collectors spend quite a bit of time cleaning and storing our elongated coins which eventually find themselves in a booklet or binder behind a layer of plastic just to be kept on display. But have you ever wanted to play with your pressed pennies? If so I may have just found the perfect solution.

Every so often my family likes to partake in a family game night, just like those old Hasbro commercials I remember seeing on TV as a kid. I always want to play clue, but my kids prefer these wacky games like Don’t Wake Granny, or There’s a Yeti in My Spaghetti. Then sometimes when it’s just the older family members we attempt not to kill each other over a “friendly” game of Monopoly.

This Monopoly set is one we have had for quite awhile and over the years some of the pieces have gone missing and I’ve replaced them with some other generic things including a random penny which is usually my token of choice. This was about as close to a penny themed game as I could get, until recently when I came across a new game called Penny PRESSure by the Pennybandz company.

The game includes a nicely built wooden box, that easily stores all the pieces to the game. You will need to supply your own pennies and it’s recommended that each player has 8 to 12 pressed pennies, plus a few extra as your offering to the Penny Trader Bag. Each player adds one penny to the Trader Bag however chose carefully this is a penny that you are willing to lose at the end of the game.

The fewer the pennies each player has the the faster the game. I actually had some extra sets of 8 pressed penny from Walt Disney World so each set was themed making it a little easier for each player to remember their coins. That’s not required, but just a friendly tip we found useful during our game times.

Let’s go over the rules and how to play. Each player can roll the die with the highest number going first, and play proceeds in a clockwise direction.

Player rolls the die and must put a pressed penny in the same numbered slot on the game box board. If the player rolls a number that already has a pressed penny in it, they must take ALL the pennies in slots 2 through 5 on the box.

A player must take at least one roll, but can take as many rolls as they want until they get stuck as in the previous example, or they pass the die to the next player.

Slot number 6 lets your pressed penny drop inside the box, so you can roll as many 6’s as possible without penalty. Play continues until a player runs out of pressed pennies and is declared the winner. The winner opens the box and all pennies played and unplayed are redistributed back to their owner.

The Penny Trader Bag is then opened by the winner who keeps their penny PLUS they select one more penny as their reward for winning. You can opt to not use the Penny Trader Bag but it does allow for some additional fun and risk to the game.

Just a quick note, this was not given to me by Pennybandz, they are friends of ours but I saw this and paid for it myself so we could try to give an unbiased review of this game. I personally went into this with some skepticism, but after playing numerous games with my family we really had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s well built, very sleek looking, and has a simple enough concept that your entire family will have no problem picking up the rules and playing. I found this on Amazon and have included an affiliate link <a href="http://<a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/PENNYPRESSure-Pressed-Collection-Playtime-Pennybandz/dp/B0BTC45KPQ/ref=sr_1_5?crid=181F06GF2MOH1&keywords=penny+pressure+game&qid=1686191529&sprefix=penny+pressure+game%252Caps%252C107&sr=8-5&_encoding=UTF8&tag=davidscointra-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=6542ad86e0a7e07719f997068e657251&camp=1789&creative=9325">Click HereClick Here in case you are interested in picking up one for yourself.

If your Family Game Night needs something new definitely give this a try I think you’ll really enjoy it. As always have a fantastic week and Keep on Playing!

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