Here I am at the TEC Booth during the F.U.N. Coin Show in Orlando Florida. You can reach about the show in a little more detail here. Now you may be asking why I’m behind the table, well that’s because I decided to Volunteer for a day at the show. Before I go over how it went and what I did, let’s go back a few months so I can explain how we got here.

Back in October I received my copy of TEC News and was enjoying the articles and pictures when I came across an article from Cindy Calhoun. She was asking for volunteers to help during the coin show in Orlando. This was something I’ve wanted to do for awhile but my schedule never really allowed for it. This time however it was going to happen. I quickly sent Cindy an email offering to help and she responded back thanking me and confirming I was on the list. It was that easy.

When I arrived I was happy to see both Cindy and Les already there. They are both such sweet friends and a wealth of knowledge. I was looking forward to our day together. To start things of Cindy ran us through our tasks for the day and then she had to run off for a little while to do some judging of the educational exhibits.

I will admit most of our time was spent catching up with each other and gossiping about new coins being released at the nearby theme parks. The table did get a lot of traffic and quite a few visitors so there were a few things we needed to help with throughout the day.

Cindy’s table was right next to the TEC Booth and had a large selection of elongated coins for sale. Some were in dump bins or bags for visitors to comb through. Les had been helping to organize them by location which helped collectors narrow in on exactly what they may have been looking for. There were also some special show coin denomination sets, books and plenty more for purchase. We help people find what they were interested in, and assisted with collecting payment and documentation the sales.

Throughout the day we did get to meet quite a few other TEC members, and even signed up a few new members. It was fun chatting about the club and letting newcomers know about the perks of membership.

Something that I was tasked with and really enjoyed was helping with the kids trivia challenge. This was a free activity that kids visiting the show could sign up for at the Coins and Kids table. They would get a blue paper with questions on it they needed to answer and could then turn in for a prize once completed. They had to find certain tables or booths around the show with an orange placard signifying a t trivia location. The volunteers at that location would help the kids answer the question and then they were off to their next location. All right get ready, here was the TEC booth question:

So how did you do? Well just to confirm the answer was (C) both A and B. To help them answer our question we would give them one elongated zinc coin and one copper to exam. I would have them try bending each coin to see which was softer or easier to bend. Then we would closely examine the color, noticing how the zinc coin’s coating stretches and cracks revealing the silver core color below the surface. It was a lot of fun and the kinds really seemed to enjoy our little experiments.

Once the kids figured out their answer they earned a special elongated coin with the TEC Owl in the c enter and “I answered the TEC question” along the bottom. Then before they left we offered them the opportunity to use our penny press to create their own show coin as a souvenir.

We had plenty of show coins pressed on both copper and zinc pennies available for anyone that stopped by, and they were definitely very popular. Many people said they always make sure to stop by every year to get the new coin for their collections.

Now speaking of the penny press machine, something we had a lot of fun with was pressing all different types of coins. Many people would stop by to just press some spare change they had in their pockets including quite a few nickels and quarters. At one point we did have a visitor with a 1/10 oz silver coin he wanted to press, and Cindy was happy to help make it happen. It turned out fantastic.

I knew about this little tradition ahead of time and wanted something unique to press during my visit but all I could find at home was a Canadian loonie or one dollar coin. It rolled a little short but I still think it came out great and you can even see the Queens face peeking through the design. Maybe next year I’ll have to try pressing one of those colored Canadian coins, wonder how that would press?

Jim McNally from zzzcoins.com was in town and stopped by for a few hours. It was great to finally meet him in person after years of online communications, and we have featured a few of his shop coins here as well. He brought a bag of about 50 brass tokens from a Chuck E Cheese and was looking to press them all. It took a little while to go through them, but they all came out great and he even gifted each of us one for our collections.

The rest of our time was just a lot of fellowship and coin collecting nerdom. I met so many friends like Joe Watts and even had a few people recognize me from our Youtube videos which was amazing and I was so happy to meet you all.

I had a fantastic time during my day volunteering at the TEC booth and wish my scheduled allowed for another day or two. I’m looking forward to next year and hope to see some of you there. You can get details at Funtopics.com including the dates and locations of the upcoming coin shows. Also if you aren’t already be sure to check out TECNews.org and become a member of our ever growing group of elongated collectors.

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New Year and that always means the big F.U.N. Coin Show is taking place once again in Orlando Florida. This has become and annual tradition for myself and I am always blown away with just how huge this show is. So many vendors, clubs, exhibits and lots of friends we have made along the way.

As with previous events this was once again held at the Orange County Convention Center which itself is an incredible place. After getting my visitors name tag I headed down to the show floor.

If you have haven’t attended this show, these pictures just won’t do it justice. There are aisle after aisle of vendors buying and selling almost anything Numismatic themed that you can think of, and even some things that fall outside of that category.

This was during my visit on Thursday which was the first day it was open to the public and you can see how busy it was. I’ve never seen crowds this large on opening day in the past. That’s usually why I go since it’s a little less busy and easier to take my time and explore all there is see and do.

Towards the back is always the large Wizard Collectible supply shop. I head in each time thinking I’ll see something new, but I’m almost positive these elongated coin booklets are the same ones each year. Maybe I need to buy them so they get some new fresh inventory.

Of course the U.S. Mint is always on hand to show off some new products and coin designs for the upcoming year. There is a change machine available where you can usually get the new years quarters, but we must have been too early as it was still giving out 2024 quarters.

The mint usually has quite a line of visitors inquiring about special collectibles, or purchasing all the new items available. It’s always a fun section to spend some time in.

All the way in the back were the Educational Exhibits which is always a personal favorite of mine and I could just spend hours looking and reading all the information. These themes and topics are of things I would have never known or even thought of which is part of what I like about it. Pictures above was a great exhibit all about the start of elongated coins and even had a photo of Mr. Ray Dillard.

There was another exhibit I found very interesting about coins and the devastation of fire. It even includes some coins that had served a fire but lived to tell the tale. You never know what you will learn in these exhibits.

One reason I absolutely love the Winter version is our friends from TEC The Elongated Collectors are able to attend and host a booth. I made sure to stop by and visit with Cindy and Les who were handling the tables throughout the weekend.

TEC also always had their elongated coin press and plenty of free elongated show coins available for anyone to grab as a souvenir. Or you can use your own spare change or unique coin to run through the press and make it yourself.

There were two elongated coin designs available. One from TEC was the Show coin with a clock in the center, A Great Time to Collect FUN 2025 around the border. The second coin design was from Cindy’s Cents table running along with the TEC table and had a beautiful design saying Feliz Cumpleaños which is Happy Birthday in Spanish.

Once again this was a fanatic show and I always have a great time. This is going to end this little summary overview of the show. But stay tuned for our next post as I’ll give some more details about what it’s like behind the table. This year I volunteered to help at the TEC table which was a whole new experience and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Keep on Collecting!!

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I’m sure you realize by now that I visit the Walt Disney World parks quite often, and even Disneyland out on the west coast a few times. However I’ve never visited any of the international parks, and hope to do so sometime in the future. Even though I’ve never been there that doesn’t stop me from following news about them whether it pertains to new attractions, merchandise or food. Among all those parks the items released in Tokyo Disney almost always blow me away.

I remember seeing things like a hand soap dispenser that would dollop soap in the shape of a mickey head. It was so simple but something I’d never seen before. Food items like little mocha ice creams designed to look like the little green men from Toy story, or even an incredible Curry dish with the rice shaped like Baymax from Big Hero 6. Of course they have more standard souvenirs like clothing, pins and yes even elongated coins or what they refer to as medallions.

A few months ago as I was perusing TikTok I came across a video of a new souvenir medallion book available in the Tokyo Disney Resort. At first glance it seems like a standard storage booklet, but a little further into the video there were some close up clips showing the inside and what appeared to be images of specific coin designs that were meant to be kept inside. I thought this was such a cool idea, definitely more interesting that just the plain books we have here in the States. I knew at that moment I wanted one but as I started looking into online resellers to acquire it the prices were astronomical. Instead I headed to Facebook and reached out to friend and fellow collector Betty who lives in Japan and graciously offered on her next trip to the parks to try and get one of the books and the specific coins to go inside. It took some time, and I can happily say that they arrived safely not too long ago.

The first photo above shows the front of the booklet. The cover has a three-dimensional map of the Tokyo Disneyland park on it with some of the iconic attractions. On the back, above photo is a similar style map of their second park Tokyo Disney Seas and some friendly faces along the bottom.

As we open the book, the first page has a clear pocket with a sheet of labels that can be used to organize your coin collection within this booklet. I’ll go over where these can be used shortly. On the other page is a combined map of both parks, and one additional storage sleeve at the bottom for any coin you like, but I’m sure you would save this for your absolute favorite.

Betty picked this one out for me and I think she made a fantastic choice. With the iconic castle in the center, Mickey and Minnie Mouse on either side and the resort copyright info along the bottom.

Let’s skip to the back pages of the booklet next. On these pages are additional sleeves for up to 30 coins. Underneath each sleeve is where you can attach those labels we found on the first page. This way you can document where you found each coin, or note them in any way you like.

Now let’s check out the main event of this booklet and what called out to my inner collector. On the left side is the Tokyo Disney Sea park map surrounded by eight elongated coin designs. One each for the different sections of the park like Port Discovery, Fantasy Springs and Mermaid Lagoon.

On the right side is the Tokyo Disneyland park map with seven coin designs around the perimeter featuring some recognizable lands like Fantsayland, Toontown, and Tomorrowland.

Here you can see the booklet with those specific coins collection and installed inside the protective sleeves. The machines there supply bright, shiny blank coins not actual currency and Betty does an amazing job keeping them so clean and fingerprint free.

Now the big question is do I think something like this will ever make it to the American parks. Unfortunately I doubt it, but I really wish they would. Even for a collector like me, I love this sort of small mini-set and storage idea and would definitely head out and get it for my own collection. Not to mention that I think this would be a fun activity for kids and their families to do while visiting. They can use it like a scavenger hunt throughout certain areas of the park, or maybe even a specific theme like Snow White, or Zootopia characters. The possibilities are endless.

However the issue is that at least here in the Florida parks, the machines are operated by an outside vendor, while Disney handles their own merchandising. I’m sure it would be quite the coordinated effort to try and release a coin booklet with specific coin designs and make sure those same designs are actually available in the park. Disney can’t even keep their mobile app updated with the penny machine locations. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that maybe they do try it out and I’ll be one of the first to work on it. Thanks again to Betty for all her effort in finding the booklet and then trekking all over the parks to get the coins to fill it up, I truly do appreciate it.

Enjoy the rest of your week and as always Keep on Pressing!

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What many of you have been asking about and waiting have finally started to arrive. The highly anticipated new 2025 Pressed Penny designs at Walt Disney World. Word on the street is that due to some slow sales of the previous years’ dated designs that were located inside the different resorts, this year 2025 the dated designs are being kept just inside the four theme parks. Hopefully this should make it a little easier for everyone to be able to find the pennies they want without having to travel all over WDW property. Not sure if this will change, but if you find a new design along your travels please leave a comment so we can help everyone with their collections. Keep on Pressing!

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Magic Kingdom

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant

Just inside the Magic Kingdom along Main Street USA is Tony’s Town Square Restaurant themed around Lady and the Tramp. Just outside the restrooms is the 3-design penny machine, however only one of the designs is dated for 2025 and features Stitch. Found / Reported by Amanda Wheet

Main Street Emporium

Continuing along Main Street if you enter the Emporium from the front side of the park the first penny machine will be right inside the door. This is an 8-design machine, but only 4 of the designs have been changed for 2025 and included Mickey, Minnie, Goody and Cinderella Castle.

Walk a little further into the Emporium and you will find the second penny machine near the large wall of Disney Pins. As with the other machine here, this is also an 8-design machine with only 4 new designs for 2025 featuring Tinker Bell, Donald, Pluto and Chip & Dale.

EPCOT

Port of Entry Gift Shop

Inside EPCOT as you head beyond Spaceship Earth towards the World Showcase head right towards Canada and you will come to the Port of Entry Gift Shop. Towards the right (Canada) side of the store near the doors is the pressed penny machine with the new 2025 design featuring Chip & Dale.

Disney Traders Gift Shop

Head across the courtyard towards Mexico and you will find an identical store but with a different name called Disney Traders. There is a pressed penny machine near one of the side doors and there you will fine the new 2025 Penny design with Figment and Spaceship Earth.

Now it’s time to start heading around the World Showcase, with our first stop being inside the Norway Pavilion. Towards the back of the various stores is one called The Fjordes, here just inside the door will be the penny machine and the 2025 penny design with Olaf the Snowman.

One more stop inside EPCOT and that’s at the store near the side park entrance / exist in between France and the United Kingdom Pavilions. This is where you head if you are looking to take the Disney Skyliner. Just before the park exit is the International Gateway gift shop. Head to the back corner and you will find the penny machine with 2025 penny design with Sorcerer Apprentice Mickey and Spaceship Earth.

Hollywood Studios

Oscar’s Super Service

At Hollywood Studios there is only one new penny to acquire here and it’s just inside the park at Oscar’s Super Service which is also where you would go when renting a wheelchair or ECV. Inside is a 3-design pressed penny machine but only one of the designs is for 2025 and has Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey.

Animal Kingdom

Discovery Trading Co – Gift Shop

Inside Animal Kingdom as you walk towards the big Tree of Life there is a large gift shop on your right side called the Discovery Trading Co. Outside one set of doors is a bank of three penny machines, and one of them has the new 2025 penny designs featuring Chip & Dale with a map.

Dawa Bar

Next we head back into the African section of the park, just as you walk over the bridge from Discovery Island you will see the Dawa Bar. The machine is right nearby and currently has the second 2025 pressed penny design this time with Minnie Mouse holding a Parrot.

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