For many locals around a Disney theme park or for someone that visits the parks often enough, an annual pass is quite appealing, although a pretty expensive luxury now a days. On the west coast in Disneyland their annual pass was renamed to Magic Key a few years ago that left some fans with contradicting feelings about the program.
As I mentioned the cost is very high, they limited the number of “Keys” available, the number of days you can reserve to enter the park, as well as penalties should you book a day to visit and not show up. All of these things seem to make it harder for fans to visit.
It hasn’t been all bad news, I mean you still get plenty of access to the parks, overall the price per visit would be much less than buying individual tickets and you can also visit a special lounge.
Inside the Disney California Adventure park you can visit the Magic Key Terrace with some nice covered areas to sit and relax, grab some food or just get out of the sun for a bit.
Plus now it was just announced by the Disney Parks Blog that starting October 27th, 2023 you can get a special set of collectible medallions just for Magic Key holders. The new machine is available at the terrace during regular operating hours. Key holders must be dining at the lounge to access the machine and they do recommend a dining reservation. There is no mention of how long these will be available, or if there is a limit on how many can be purchased.
The set includes coin designs of the Disneyland Flag Sign, the Partner Statue with Walt and Mickey, Sleeping Beauty Castle, and the Pixar Pal-A-Round wheel. All coins have the same reverse image of the Magic Key Logo in the center, and Disneyland along the bottom.
This is something I’ve been hoping Disney would do for a long time, albeit preferably here in the Florida parks. But this is a start and hopefully we will see more of these Passholder er.. I mean Magic Key holder coins in the future.
The next day of our Colorado trip had arrived. My wife and oldest daughter wanted to stay at our cabin for a low-key relaxing day. However my youngest is a bit more like me and was anxious to get out on the road and explore. I had quite a few places on my to-do list for the day. I wasn’t sure if we would get to all of them, but we would certainly try. Our first stop this day was located in Golden Colorado called the Colorado Railroad Museum.
The main museum building that included the gift shop was modeled after 1880s style railroad depot. Inside there were quite a few exhibits, historical photographs and a model railroad that we will take a look at in a little bit.
After purchasing our tickets we headed outside to the sprawling 15 acre property with amazing collection of trains, trains cars and so much more.
Most of them were available for guests to get right up close and personal, with a few even allowing us access inside. A couple trains we were able to walk down the narrow hallways and explore the kitchen, dining car, standard seating and even a first class car.
Unfortunately the Coors train car was not accessible which seemed surprising since the Brewery was not too far away.
It was incredible to be able to just wonder around and walk up onto the railroad tracks and just see all the details and incredible engineering it took to make these iron beasts move along those tracks.
They even had a railroad turntable that apparently was in working order. During our visit they weren’t running it which I would have loved to see in person, but never the less it was still very impressive to see up close.
Another interesting place we were able to explore a little bit was the building where they restore, rebuilt and give general maintenance to the trains. During our visit the front large doors were open so we could see their current projects, and there was also an area around back that you could enter inside to see the actual work being done.
After we had finished exploring the outside grounds we headed back inside the main museum building and downstairs is where there was an incredible model railroad. Ever since I was young I’ve been fascinated with model railroads and this one was great. The scenery, buildings, and landscapes were so fun and of course the trains running their routes was mesmerizing. I could have stayed there for hours watching it.
Eventually we headed back upstairs and found the pressed penny machine. It had a nice simple wood cabinet, and worked very well. The penny designs in this set included the Museum logo, a couple train images and their mascot Spike the Dog.
This was an incredible place to visit and I’m so happy we were able to visit. There were still quite a few other places I wanted to check out this day so we couldn’t linger too long. Stay tuned for future articles about where we headed next. Keep on Pressing!
This was the second part of our first full day in Denver. Earlier we had visited the Denver zoo which you can read about here. After that we weren’t quite ready to head back to our cabin and instead decided to visit the nearby Museum of Nature & Science.
It was only about a five minute walk from the zoo, through a little park before coming across this beautiful sight. I’ve mentioned in the past that I love museums, doesn’t matter if it’s for art, science, industry or history. My favorite however is a Nature museum.
We had one in Ottawa where I grew up and it was a place we visited quite often and is where I fell in love with dinosaurs. So I was excited to get inside and see what they had to offer here. Immediately upon entering we were confronted by this big guy and I knew we were in for a treat.
This place was huge, and I truly wish we had enough time to explore the entire museum, unfortunately we only had a short amount of time so we had to pick just a few sections to explore.
We headed all the way up to the top floor and figured it would be easiest to work our way back down. This was where they had a special exhibit going on that was all about bugs. Now I’m not the biggest fan of bugs, so usually I’ll just try to steer clear.
They had some very interested interactive exhibits, and even an area where you could tough a few creepy crawlers. That I did not partake in, although the little ones in attendance seemed to really enjoy it.
After having our fill of bugs, we headed down to the Wildlife Halls. This is another favorite of mine in all Nature museums.
The size and details of these scenes in incredible, and even just the total number of animals instead each display is amazing.
The museum hours were quickly coming to a close and we didn’t have much time let so we wanted to make sure and visit one last section and that had to be the prehistoric dinosaur exhibit.
This area just brought me back to my childhood. The fossils on display were immense and it always blows my mind just how big and small some of them where.
I could have spent hours in this area, but still enjoyed everything we saw here.
After finishing up with the dinosaurs we then headed back down to the main floor. We chose to skip the gift shop, but I did find the pressed penny machine just outside the store.
The machine miraculously was still only fifty cents and I was able to use my own pennies. Thankfully I came prepared with some coppers to press. The cabinet had a nice blue design, and the marquee design was like nothing I’d seen before on a machine.
The pennies in this set had images of Saturn with some starts, an Egyptian burial mask, a Mammoth, and my favorite the T-Rex skeleton.
We had a great day at the zoo and then this fantastic museum, but we were pretty exhausted by this time and still trying to get on the correct time zone. After a quick dinner we headed back to our cabin for some much needed rest before we headed back out for some other experiences and plenty of new pressed pennies so stayed tuned. Keep on Pressing!
Earlier this summer my family took a trip to Colorado, and here we are many weeks later and I’m finally getting around to sharing the adventure with you. We had booked a cabin in a place called Bailey that was about an hour outside of Denver. We were up in the mountains with a nice piece of property and plenty of peace and quiet. It was unbelievable and we truly enjoyed being there. However, every so often we would venture out to explore. One of the first places we decided to check out was the Denver Zoo.
Something I found interesting about this zoo is it had underground parking. I’ve visited lots of zoos over the years, and I think that was a first.
Once inside the zoo was quite large and sprawled out in various directions. There was plenty of shade which I always appreciate, but the temperatures during our trip were beautiful and with no humidity like we suffer from in Florida I was in heaven.
The exhibits were fun and of course had plenty of all the usual animals you would expect. We stopped for snacks and ice cream along the way, and even took a quick ride on a classic carousel filled with colorfully decorated animals. The zoo had a decent crowd during our visit but nothing like we are used to at the Disney parks so we really enjoyed the slower pace of our visit.
Hopefully this goes without saying, but I was sure to keep an eye out for any elongated coins. They were scattered pretty throughly throughout the park. The first machine we found was the one pictured above, the cabinets were very familiar however the marquee was quite a bit different. I wasn’t sure why there were two images of each coin design, and why one of them was filled with different colors. It was a bit unique and I must admit it caught my eye so who am I to complain. The machines had been updated to the newer payment system accepting either cash, credit or digital payments. Each machine was pre-filled with zinc pennies and cost $1 each to press each penny.
Some of the machine locations I had researched on pennycollector.com were not in the same locations during my trip. It’s still on my to-do list to make some updated notes for other collectors to reference but this was one of those machines. Originally it was listed as being near the carousel we had ridden however the machine was no where to be found. Eventually I came across is near the primate section of the zoo.
The next machine was in the correct location but on the complete opposite side of the zoo near a section called the Elephant Passage. It was kind of hidden behind a large bush and I almost walked right past it. Thankfully my elongated coin spidey-sense was tingling helped me spot it at the last moment.
Finally the last machine was found over near the giraffe exhibit. By this time my family was pretty tired, we were still trying to get adjusted to our temporary time zone, and the higher elevation. They were resting a bit in one of the quick service restaurants having a light lunch while I quickly trekked through the last section of the zoo we hadn’t visited yet. After pressing the set I finished walking this last area and then headed back to join up with my family.
Before we headed out we did make a quick stop in the gift shop. My youngest fell in love with a cute plush animal so we adopted that and while in line to check out I saw they had some generic Penny passport books for $6 which was pretty reasonable. I didn’t pick one up since I already have one of these versions, and at this point in my collection I prefer to get ones only if they are customized for the location I visited.
Those of you eagle eyed readers may have noticed among the penny machine photos that the bottom of each machine had a number. I found four machines, but seemed to miss machine #2. I inquired with a few employees at the zoo and they insisted that there were currently only four machines. Could I have missed it, well it’s certainly possible but to toot my own horn that doesn’t happen to often. I’m pretty good at finding all machines and knowing the common locations that the vendors like to place them. If any of you have visited the Denver Zoo and have any information on Machine #2 please let me know in the comments and maybe we will have to go back sometime again in the future.
Stay tuned for more posts about our Colorado trip. We had plenty of other things on our list to do, and of course lots of pennies and even some medallions to collection along the way. Keep on Pressing!
Disney’s 100th Anniversary. So far we have collected pressed pennies and medallions for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, honestly I thought we were done. But before we could close out the coin collecting sets for the 100th Anniversary our friends over at the Disney Coin Pressers Facebook Group shared one last set. This one however is not in any of the theme parks, instead they can be found throughout the United States at retailers like Amazon, Kroger and Walmart.
Frankford Candy company was founded in 1947. Starting with just chocolates, has since expanded to include dummies, lollipops, gift sets and more including this the infamous Frankford Wonder Ball. There have been different versions in the past, but this latest edition is helping to celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary.
Inside each box is a hollow ball of chocolate filled with little candy pieces which are only somewhat edible in my opinion. The candies were giving me flashbacks of those Flintstone vitamins I used to eat as a kid but with lest fruity flavor. The chocolate was definitely not to my liking, however my kids loved it so go figure.
Candy aside, what I was really here for was a special surprise. Inside each box is one metal coin with a Disney Character on it. I visited a few stores in my area and had the best success at Walmart and as you can see bought as many as I could. To be honest the above picture only shows the first batch I found, this was a project that went on for a few weeks.
There are 22 standard coins to collect, and 3 rare chrome coins for a total of 25 coins in the entire set. The packaging was colorful and I honestly liked the design of it. Once you tore open the top the foil wrapped chocolate ball could easily be removed and in the bottom was a piece of folded cardboard that said “Look Prize Below!” helping to keep our coin safe.
I quickly tore into each box to see which coins I was able to collect. Five boxes, led to 10 boxes, then 15 and more. In my spare time I would visit any Walmart within a reasonable driving distance always on the look for more Wonder Balls. I was so obsessed that even during a family vacation to Colorado (spoiler, stay tuned for posts all about that adventure. So many pressed pennies!) I visited a few stores there hoping for those last few coins to finish up the set.
I almost forgot to show the reverse side of the coins. All coins had the same back image of the Disney 100 logo and then a bunch of copyright details. Nothing too extraordinary, but better than just being blank I guess.
Eventually I got to the point where every Wonder Ball I purchased just presented me with a duplicate coin I already had. As you can see in the above image I had quite a few duplicates and ended up only needing 4 coins to finish off the set. So I decided to save some money and headed to the Disney Coin Pressers Facebook group, posted a photo of my duplicate coins available for trade and my want list.
It didn’t take too long before I had secured enough trades to get the coins I needed. It’s always a wonderful feeling to finish off a set and even better when you are able to help other collectors with their sets at the same time.
Now that I had the entire set I needed a nice way to display and store them. I did think of just using my usual method of 2×2 cardboard flips and a 3-ring binder, but I remembered that inside each Wonder Ball box you would get a small checklist for the coin set. On this checklist was an offer to get a free collector’s coin book, and designed for the Disney 100th. Plus it was completely free, all I needed to do was go to the company’s website and fill out a form along with a photo of 6 coins and their corresponding box bar codes.
The only issue was that it could take 6-8 weeks to then arrive in my mail and I will admit Frankford took every single one of those days plus a few more before the booklet finally arrived.
The booklet is a tri-fold design made of pretty rigid cardboard. There are cutouts for each coin with a faded image of each design. My only real complaint about this booklet is the cutouts are slightly larger than the actual coins so they do not fit in there snuggly like other similar booklets from coin collecting supply companies.
They did include a strip of adhesive circles so you can secure the coins into the booklet but if you are like me this is probably not the most ideal option for your collection. I don’t think I’ll be removing the coins any time soon, however when I do I’m sure those sticky dots will either damage the booklet, leave a gross residue on the coin or more likely both.
I spend a lot of time in the theme parks collecting pressed pennies and medallions which I absolutely love. But this coin set just got me hooked in a different manner. It reminded me of collecting sports cards when I was a kid, not knowing what you would get in each pack, and that thrill of the hunt was just so much fun. I may have become a bit obsessed and that’s okay in my mind. The coins are of pretty high quality, they are solid and quite heavy. I have seen that Frankford offers some other similar coin sets and I’m already getting the itch to maybe try and collect those as well. Just when I’m out they drag me back in.
I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m originally from Canada, and part of my DNA is that I’m a pretty big hockey fan. When I was much younger, my dad and I were a part of some local hockey history when our city got a brand new expansion NHL hockey team. However, an interesting tidbit is not only did we get a new hockey team, but we got to celebrate 11 Stanley Cup wins by hanging banners in our arena. How is this possible and what does it have to do with coin collecting? Well let me explain.
Flashback, the year was 1989. I was growing up in Ottawa Canada and to keep the stereotype alive, being Canadian I was a diehard hockey fan. Unfortunately Ottawa, which little known fact here in the USA, is actually the Capital of Canada didn’t have a professional hockey team.
Ottawa had been home to the original Senators team, a founding NHL franchise and 11-time Stanley Cup champion. They played in the NHA that eventually became the NHL from 1883 to 1934 when due to financial struggles were moved to St. Louis as the Eagles but folded shortly after with all players being transferred to other teams.
Sure we had a fairly well known and popular minor league team, but when it came to the NHL many of us locals were stuck rooting for the next closest teams either the Montreal Canadiens or the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thankfully that would eventually change.
The NHL dad recently announced plans to expand the league. Real estate developer Bruce Firestone and some financial partners put in a bid to “Bring Back the Senators”. Ads were placed in local newspapers to try and persuade the public to help support the proposed team. For a measly $25 per seat pledge people could secure an opportunity to be among the first fans offered season tickets if the new team was granted.
I remember my dad brining this exact article home and showing it to me during our dinner, and together we filled it out and mailed it off the next day. It was very exciting news, but at this point it was kind of like a kickstarter, we still didn’t know for sure if it would happen.
Then on December 12th, 1990 the NHL approved two new franchises, the Tampa Bay Lighting and the Ottawa Senators to start pay in the 1992-93 season. There was no time to waste for the new team. A coach and staff was needed, then an expansion draft to start putting together the team were only a few things on the ever growing to do list before they could hit the ice. During this time my father confirmed our interest in season tickets and we eventually picked a day to go in an select our seat locations. Because we were so early in submitting that initial pledge we were able to get seats just two rows back from the ice near the Home team bench along the blue line. These were near perfect seats in our minds.
The new state of the art arena (for that time period) wouldn’t be ready until early 1996, so in the meantime their first home arena was the Ottawa civic Center currently home to the minor league team I mentioned earlier the Ottawa 67’s. This smaller arena was retrofitted with more seating, executive suites, and larger press boxes to try and prepare for the larger professional games.
On October 8th, 1992 the Senators finally jumped on the ice for an incredible first home game against NHL dynasty the Montreal Canadiens and now geographic rival. The deal I had with my parents for weeknight games was that my homework always had to be done before my dad got home from work. On opening night my homework was long completed as nothing was going to make me miss this first official game. Traffic was backed up, parking was crazy, and trying to get inside the arena required quite a bit of patience but we were ready. As they ripped out tickets allowing us inside the building we were then gifted a special opening night program and another gift that we will look at shortly.
The energy inside that building was incredible. Prior to the first puck drop, they held a special ceremony hanging 11 Stanley Cup winning banners from the arenas rafters to commemorate the achievements of the orignal Ottawa Hockey Club. These are not officially recognized by the NHL for the current iteration of the team, but that didn’t matter to us hometown fans, we were proud to have this team back representing our incredible city.
Fans were on their feed for almost the entire, and as if by destiny after all the time and effort put into getting this team back. Ottawa was able to win their very first regular season game 5 to 3.
Overall we didn’t have a great initial season, but that’s to be expected with a new team. We continued with our season tickets for the next 4 seasons, and even got to enjoy their first full season in the new arena originally called the Palladium and since then was renamed the Canadian Tire Center. Eventually we had to give up our tickets to the Senators because our family was moving down to New Jersey. I’ve seen Ottawa play in person a few times over the years again the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and more recently down here in Florida again the Tampa Bay Lighting. I’ve gone to playoff games, and international tournaments. I’ve seen Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and so many other Hall of Fame players play in person, but nothing was as exciting as that very first game in Ottawa bak in 1992.
Recently I was in our garage cleaning up some things and came across a large moving box that contained all my Ottawa Senators souvenirs. There were all our ticket stubs, team magazines, newspaper articles and even some pucks that I caught during a few of the games. That’s when I came across that special gift we received on Opening night this limited edition commemorative coin.
I’d forgotten all about this stuff and really enjoyed revisiting this and wanted to share it all with you. Thank you for indulging me with this little trip down memory lane. I’m sure not everyone out there is a hockey fan, and probably more rare would be if you even knew who the Senators were. Thank you for reading about one of my childhood passions and this very special coin in my collection.
This week I wanted to share another very special pressed coin set from our friend, fellow collector and coin designer Michael Mochizuki. We have previously reviewed a few other coin sets from Michael’s collection and they are all not just striking to look at, but the additional details and story pages that are included with each set make these truly a very special collectible.
Michael has been designing elongated coins since 2010 specializing in Hawaiian historical subjects and commemorating various Hawaii anniversaries. To date he has created over 250 designs which is truly amazing. This latest set I acquired focuses on the Honolulu Police Department that celebrated their 90th Anniversary back in 2022.
These are limited sets that are numbered, which I think this is a fantastic touch making these sets highly sought after. The detailed information and photographs Michael includes gives so much wonderful information about the subject, and allows us to have a greater appreciation not just for the work that went into the coin design but also the people involved with this subject.
The design of this coin has some great details as well. Michael really puts a lot of work and thought into each of his coins. We see the Honoloulu Police Department listed across the top, a large 90 in the middle with the zero being represented by the Police badge shield, and the year span of the department 1932 to 2022.
A fun addition to these limited sets is the included Poker style chip that has a full color image on one side of the Police Shield, and the elongated coin design on the reverse side.
The set I received included a full denomination set of coins, and the poker chip I just mentioned. Michael has quite 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. There are so many talented designers in our community that we have plenty to find and review.
David's Coin Travels 