In a previous post that you can read here, I went over all the new collectible medallion designs that were released at the beginning of the year. However, not all of these coins were part of the “2024 Dated” set. Some of the others were new “non-dated” designs, or part of separate mini-sets that we will review in future posts so stay tuned. In this post I’m going to show off just the 2024 Dated Medallion Set. Here is a look at the 2024 design that appears on the reverse side of all coins in this set. Happy hunting!
In a previous post that you can read here, I went over all the new pressed penny designs that were released at the beginning of the year. However, not all of these pennies were part of the “2024 Dated” set. Some of the others were new “non-dated” designs, or older previously retired designs that were brought back. In this post I’m going to show off just the 2024 Dated Pressed Penny Set. Here is a picture of all the pennies in this set, and below that I’ll explain where each one can be found. Happy hunting!
To be honest I thought I had written about this years ago, but recently I’ve had some questions and comments asking about how I first got into the hobby. When I went back through all my posts I realized that it’s apparently not something I ever wrote about in detail. So in today’s article we are going to time travel back quite a few years to where it all began. I’ll try to keep this on point and not to go onto too many tangents. Here’s my story and how I started collecting Pressed Pennies.
I’m originally from Ottawa Canada where I grew up with my parents and younger sister. We were lucky enough to go on quite a few family vacations each summer. Sometimes it was to Disneyland in California, or Disney World in Florida, and then there were other years where it was what my sister and I referred to as educational trips where we explored places that had some import Canadian historical relevance. Looking back on those trips I’m glad to have experienced them, but at the time we would always have preferred visiting the Disney parks each and ever year.
My first memory of getting a pressed penny was on one of these vacations to Florida. It was a large family trip that included my immediately family, grandparents and aunt and uncle. One day my parents were going to spend the day with my aunt and uncle, so my grandparents got to keep my sister and I busy.
They decided to take us to the classic Florida attraction Gatorland. I remember all the gators floating around, and have visit memories of the show where the staff would roll raw chickens down a wire and the gators would just out of the water attempting to gab its meal. During this visit to Gatorland I remember coming across this crazy-looking machine with all sorts of gears inside of it and a big sign on top that said you could squash your penny. I looked at my grandfather who was happy to give me some pocket change, and we quickly pressed the penny. I loved watching the gears work, and having the crushed coin drop down was such a cool little souvenir, I was blown away.
The next day we were back with my parents and headed into the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. We had plans to see some shows, a parade and of course check out some of the rides, but now all of a sudden I had something else that my mind was focused on and that was finding more pressed penny machines. It’s not like it is today where Disney has hundreds of machines, back then I only remember a few along Main Street USA. There could have been more, but those are all I remember coming across. To this day I do not remember exactly how many I ended up with. It seems like a lot however in reality it was probably only a dozen or so. When we got back home I put them all in a special box I had in my room and even so often would open it and examine my special treasures.
Unfortunately in Canada at that time there were just no penny machines that I knew of, at least not in my town. With not having any way to continue my collection, over the years I kind of forgot about my pennies. Then years later my family moved down to New Jersey for my father’s work. I actually moved down for my Senior year of High School which was quite a change, and I’m not sure if my parents felt bad about the whole timing of that but after my graduation they gifted me a trip with a friend to Walt Disney World. For an entire week we stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort and visited each of the parks and ate at all our (still) favorite restaurants. Now being just out of High School I had a credit card but it was primarily for emergencies only so this trip I was mostly using cash for meals, and snacks. At the end of every day when I got back to our hotel room I would empty out my pockets of loose change and towards the end of the trip it had really started to pile up. I remember say “What the heck are we going to do with all the change?” and my friend mentioned we should use it in the penny machines for some souvenirs. I couldn’t believe I had completely forgotten about pressed pennies.
The last full day of our trip we had scheduled to visit Magic Kingdom again. My pockets were filled with quarters and pennies (ahh the good ol’ days) to use in the penny machines. We still had planned to go on a bunch of attractions and hoped to find penny designs featuring the rides we had experienced. This was a great way to use up all that change and I even came across a couple pressed quarter machines. Then in probably the biggest turning point in my collecting career, on one of the last machines we used I just happened to notice a sticker on it advertising pennycollector.com. This was also a time when there were no smart phones so I just took a picture of it with my point and shoot camera and tried to make a mental note to check this website out once I got home. Above is that actual photo from that trip.
Eventually once I got home and was going through my new collection of pressed coins I remembered the photo of that website. After powering up my computer I typed in the address and probably spent the next 3-4 hours just exploring all the information. There was details on the history of the hobby, tips and tricks about how to clean your pennies or the benefits of copper over zinc. Then I came to the locations tab and found a huge list of penny machines scattered all across the country but more importantly in my state of New Jersey.
I was so excited by this plethora of new trips I needed to make that I just couldn’t even wait until the following weekend to try and map out where I was going to go and get new coins. Thankfully there was a location listed with a machine that was only a few minutes from where I was living. So I hopped in my car and drove over to a Petrol Truck station in Bordentown New Jersey.
As I headed inside my heart was almost racing, I know this sounds crazy because I was only looking for a penny machine. I guess in my mind the machines were only in Disney and other Florida attractions, but it never crossed my mind that they could actually be found anywhere else. This Petrol station wasn’t too big and as I’ve come to find out is a popular location, the machine was located just outside the restrooms.
I pressed the coins and then got back in my car and headed home with my first set of New Jersey pressed pennies. However the urge to press more did not subside for too long, and before I knew it every free weekend I was spending time driving all over the state looking for more penny machines. I visited our Six Flags, aquariums, science museums and the notorious Jersey Shores. Then during one of my trips up and down the Turnpike those old pennies I had collected as a kid popped into my mind. I wondered if I could find them but it wasn’t meant to be. My parents basement as been searched many times, and all the old boxes filled with my childhood trophies and school projects also came up empty. My assumption is that they must have been either lost or tossed out at some point during one of our moves. This is still something I regret to this day and I can only imagine what some of those designs must have been. Many of them I’m sure would probably be highly sought after by collectors at this point but that’s just how collecting goes sometimes.
I do prefer to primary collect coins from locations that I’ve actually visited and that’s just my preference. There’s nothing wrong with trading or mailing away to get coins from other locations. I know plenty of other collectors that do so because they have a very specific theme or category they like to collect and that’s just the easiest way to do when, plus not everyone is able to travel all over the country. I find it’s just part of the adventure that I like and when I look at those individual coins I can remember the vacations we took, or the trips we went on, and for some reason I have quite vivid memories of almost every penny machine I’ve ever used. I guess when it’s something you truly love, those images and memories just stick with you.
My wife is a saint. She is not a pressed penny collector herself, but she knows how important it is to me and just how much I love it. She always lets me add some side trips to our vacations when there is a penny machine nearby and never complains. Plus every so often I’m even able to get her to press some pennies for me and I absolutely love her for that.
That’s how it all start for me with collecting pressed pennies. I continued collecting through the years and eventually decided to start this Blog with my very first post on March 18, 2014 about a trip I took to get some pennies from the Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Mountains. Then on August 30, 2017 I started our Youtube Channel all in an attempt to share my passion for the his wonderful hobby, be sure to check it out and subscribe for some really fun elongated coin videos each and every week.
I’ve heard from so many of your through comments, emails and direct messages and I truly appreciate each and every one of you that takes the time to visit and partake in my adventures. Who would have thought these tiny little inexpensive souvenirs could bring so many people together.
This is one of few Disney resorts I still have yet to stay at and is on my bucket list. I’ve been fortunate enough to stay at almost every resort on property but this one has eluded me so far. Which is strange because it’s one of my favorites. It has a couple of restaurants on my best of lists (Sanaa and Boma), the theming and design is unbelievable, and there is an actual safari in the back that many of the rooms look out over.
Fortunately I live nearby, so even though we aren’t currently staying here we can still make a quick trip over to find some new pressed pennies. It was a bit rainy on the day I headed over but that wasn’t going to sour my visit.
Just look at this main lobby it’s gorgeous. There are so many details, authentic African artifacts and ambassadors anxious to share wonderful information and stories about their home. I could honestly spend an entire day here just checking it all out.
Eventually I did make my way out near the main pool area of the Jambo house building. Nearby you will find the Pumbaa’s Fun & Games arcade.
Just inside the arcade door is where the new fancy pressed penny machine was located. There used to be two 3-design machines in this location, however they were replaced with this 8-design model. The cabinet artwork is great, and I felt like it fit in perfectly with this resort.
The penny designs in this set include a few Lion King characters, as well as some with Mickey and friends ready to go on an African Safari. I do really like that all of the designs include the Animal Kingdom Lodge logo making sure you always remember exactly where you acquired this set.
With these new pennies safely stored away, it was just about time for my lunch reservation over at Sanaa. Do you have a favorite Disney Resort? Be sure to let me know down in the comments below. Thanks for joining me on this quick resort visit, and as always Keep on Pressing!
Robert William Barker was born on December 12th, 1923 in Darrington Washington. He attended Drury College in Springfield Missouri on a basketball athletic scholarship. He joins the United States Navy Reserve in 1943 during World War II to train as a fighter pilot, but did not serve in combat.
After the war he returned to Drury College to finish his education. While attending college he worked his first media job at KTTS-FM Radio in Springfield.
In 1950 he moved to California to advance his broadcasting career and was given his own radio show, The Bob Barker Show which ran for the next six years from Burbank. He was hosting an audience-participation radio show in Los Angeles when game shoe producer Ralph Edwards happened to be listening and liked Bob’s voice and style. Ralph was looking for a new host for his long-running daytime television show Truth or Consequences. Bob started hosting the show on December 31st, 1956 and continued with the program until 1975.
In early 1972 Mark Goodson and Bill Todman began shopping a modernized revival of The Price Is Right to stations with Dennis James as host. CBS expressed interest in the service but had one condition. Instead of Dennis James they wanted Bob Barker installed as host. Then on September 4th, 1972 Bob began hosting The Price is Right.
In 1982 he began ending each episode with his trademark phrase many of us fans know by heart. ”This is Bob Barker reminding you to help control the pet population, have your pets spayed or neutered.”
Barker announced on October 31st, 2006 that he would be retiring from The Price is Right. He taped his final episode on June 6th with the show airing twice on June 15th, 2007.
Bob was the series longest-running host doing 6,586 episodes spanning 35 years with the show. The Price is Right has aired over 9,000 episodes since its debut and is the longest-running game show in the United States.
His achievements include a total of 90 daytime Emmy awards. 14 times for Outstanding Game Show Host, and 4 times for Outstanding Game show as executive producer of The Price is Right. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is part of the Television Hall of Fame (class of 2004), the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (class of 2008), and was named the Greatest Game Show Host of all time by Time Magazine.
Barker died at his home in Los Angeles on August 26th, 2023 at the age of 99 following several years with Alzheimer’s disease, something he had kept hidden from the public. He was interred alongside his wife at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
To celebrate Bob’s life, friend, fellow collector and coin designer Joe Watts has created a very special elongated coin. The design includes a wonderful image of Bob in front of The Big Wheel, and of course his famous tag line. If you are interested in one of these coins for your own collection you can reach out to Joe through The Elongated Coin Collectors Club Facebook group that I have linked here. That way you can order one, or maybe more….if the price is rights! Keep on Pressing.
The PeopleMover originally opened in Disneyland California in 1967, and then here in Walt Disney World Florida in 1975. Guests board small trains that ride an elevated track for a grand circle tour of tomorrowland. It was originally thought of as a serious prototype of intercity transportation and even appeared on the maps for Walt’s plans of his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow EPCOT.
The California attraction closed in 1995 for various reasons but most assumed for cost cutting measures due to high maintenance expense. The track and infrastructure still remain as an unfortunate reminder to guests of what used to be. The version here in Walt Disney World is still running, but is under a slightly different name the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.
To commemorate this fan favorite attraction friend and fellow collector Jim McNally has going with designer Don Cade to issue a variation on Don’s original PeopleMover elongated coin design. The design shows off the original people mover marquee signage but is altered a bit, and now states Elongated Collectors. It also includes the famous Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow.
On the reverse side of this variation design, now includes information for Jim’s online store zzzCoins.com. His online store has a large selection of current and retired elongated coins from Walt Disney World, Disneyland and many other locations from around the United States and even Canada.
Free Penny Offer (While Supplies Last):
As a special thank you, Jim has gifted me a few copies of this special variant penny to offer to a few of you lucky readers. All you need to do is just make sure you are subscribed to our blog or Youtube Channel (maybe even both!) and then just send me a quick email to contestDCT@gmail.com with your full name and mailing address. The first six people to send an email will get one of the free pennies and I’ll even cover the postage.
A huge thank you to both Jim and Don as always for creating another amazing elongated coin design, and be sure to check out Jim’s website to help fill in some of those missing coins from your collection. It really is a great resource to have. Good luck and Keep on Pressing!
With all the new pressed pennies and medallions being released so far for 2024, honestly a new set of Star Wars themed coins was not what I thought we would get. I’m not complaining as I’m a pretty big Star Wars fan, plus it gave me an opportunity to visit a section of Hollywood Studios I don’t often go to.
Back in what used to be called Animation Courtyard, I’m actually not sure if that’s still the official name or not. It’s where the Little Mermaid stage show, and the Disney Junior Dance Party can be found. All the way in the back is a large marquee for the Star Wars Launch Bay.
It’s easily been 3 or 4 years since I’ve been back in here. I remember they used to have a theater where you could watch trailers for upcoming Star Wars movies, or maybe even a little “history” of Star Wars video but now it’s really just a meet and greet area with a really slimmed down memorabilia area.
There used to be a ton of models from the different movies, and props, costumes and so much more. There wasn’t much in here in they way of props but the few items they did still have were interesting to see in person.
The main area in the middle of this building is where you can meet a few different Star Wars characters including Chewie, BB-8 and Darth Vader. As you can see from the above photo it wasn’t too busy inside.
This area is also where I found the new medallion (and existing pressed penny machine in case you were looking for it). The penny machine used to be outside the Launch Bay near the exit for the gift shop that seems to no longer be available.
The machine offers 4 different medallion designs including Darth Vader with a couple Storm Troopers, Mando & Grogu, Chewie, and the famous Droid Trio of C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8. Unlike many of the other medallions we have collected in the past that are more golden in color and very reflective, these are more of a darker tarnished color which I actually really liked. Not sure if that’s just because they photograph easier, but they also don’t attract fingerprints as easily which is a big plus.
The design on the reverse side of each coin here are all identical and just shows the Star Wars trademark logo among a consultation of stars.
The Star Wars Launch Bay always seems like it’s just really disconnected from the Galaxy’s Edge area of the park, and with the limited props and other items inside this really seems to have become an afterthought. Hopefully they can revamp it, but for now it’s at least a fairly quiet place to take a break and get some air conditioning if needed, or just a set of these new medallions.
It’s time for me to once again talk about the fantastic Facebook Group Pressed Penny Mafia – PPM of which I am a member. All the members enjoy telling stories about their penny pressing trips, or simply helping to trade, buy or sell coins for everyone’s collections. Then there is the biggest benefit of the group is getting first dibs on Boss Lady Amy’s latest privately designs pennies. There are usually quite a few new released each year so you never have to wait too long for something new and definitely unique.
The latest edition to Amy’s catalog of penny designs is featured in the photo above, titled “Drink With Me”. The design includes two large frothy mugs filled with your favorite brew, I love the little design touch of included a few pieces of wheat on either side. Plus she did a great job including the PPM logo on each of the mugs.
If you are interested in this design or any of Amy’s other penny designs you can contact her through the Facebook Group. Membership is absolutely free, and the cost for the pennies are always very reasonable considering the work that goes into each of these designs. Now I don’t know about you, but I personally am not a huge drinker. I do indulge from time to time, but usually when the urge strikes it’s after a long, stressful week. With that in mind, with the help of my wonderful Wife and adorable kids, we put together a fun little “busy week” video showcasing this penny design on our Youtube channel. It’s link below so you can check it out, and if you aren’t already be sure to Subscribe as we release new Pressed Penny related videos each week. Keep on Pressing!
The newly renovated Pixar Place Hotel had it’s grand opening on Tuesday January 30th out in Aneheim California. The celebration included all your favorite Pixar friends and from the pictures I’ve seen it looks like quite the improvement over the previous version of the hotel.
Now the grand opening has been covered already by news, vloggers and bloggers so as I’m sure you can assume since I’m also posting about this, there must be new coins available. And you would be absolutely correct. Let’s head on inside the STOR-E gift shop near the main lobby to take a look.
Photo Credit: WDW News Today
First is the collectible medallion machine. We can spy the new 2024 medallion booklet up on top of the machine. The cabinet design is pretty plain but inside is what we are most interested in I’m sure.
Photo Credit: WDW News Today
There are four new designs located in this machine inlcuding Sully & Mike W from Monsters Inc, Russell & Dug from Up!, Crush & Squirt from Finding Nemo, and Woody & Buzz from Toy Story. However, in my opinion the best part is the reverse side that shows the Pixar Place Hotel logo, Pixar Lamp (Luxo Jr) and the Pixar “Luxo Ball” with Grand Opening across the top
Photo Credit: WDW News Today
Next we have a new set of pressed pennies. This machine cabinet is similar in style to the medallion one we just looked at. The colorful marquee at the top is a nice subtle touch.
Photo Credit: WDW News Today
At this machine you can press one penny for $1, or the entire set of eight for $5. The penny designs include Boo, Joe Gardner, Wall-E, Jack Jack, Merida, Miguel, Jesse Woody & Bullseye, and Nemo with Dory.
Photo Credit: WDW News Today
There is a reverse design on each of the pennies as well that includes the Pixar Place Hotel logo, with Lamp and Ball similar to the medallions but no Grand Opening is shown.
Of course the big question everyone has is how long will these coins be available. I would think the pennies will be around for quite awhile. But the medallions are a different story, with that Grand Opening tag line on them I can’t seem them sticking around for more than a year. However we still aren’t quite sure how often the medallions are reordered. As always I would suggest trying to get them as quickly as you can since we really don’t know when they will be gone.
Way back in 2021 Universal Florida opened a brand new thrill ride known as the Velocicoaster. To this day it remains one of their most popular and certainly intense coasters. Even before the attraction officially opened they released a special pressed penny design to celebrate the grand opening and you can read all about that here.
However, a few years have gone by and that “Grand Opening 2021” penny design (image above) was still available which seems kind of strange. That has finally changed and the design has been updated so let’s head back into Universal’s Islands of Adventure to take a look.
All these years later and I still have not attempted to ride this attraction. I like milder coasters and this one just gives me a huge bout of anxiety even thinking about going on it.
I’ve had quite a few friends and family members ride it and they absolutely love it. Who knows maybe someday in the future I’ll get up the nerve to try it out. Just look at some of this track layout, it looks wild.
Alright time to check out the new pressed penny design. If you read the original post you will be aware that they actually had two different machines with the same “Grand Opening 2021” design. That is still the same situation with this updated design. The first machine is located inside the Discovery Center that is used as the Velocicoaster gift shop. Head just inside the doors near where all the lockers are located and you will find the machine nearby.
The second machine location is a bit harder to find. Head away from Velocicoaster as if you were going in the direction of the Kong attraction. There is another large gift shop called the Jurassic Outfitters and is also the exit to the River Adventure water ride. Around the outside of this gift shop is a set of restrooms and the penny machine right there.
I always liked the wrap of this machine as it just fits in well with the surrounding wall and tile colors. I’m not a fan of the machines being near the restrooms but I guess they are in high traffic areas and probably get a lot of use here.
Here it is the updated Velocicoaster pressed penny design. As mentioned it is the same at both machine locations so you can get it at either one depending on which is easier to access. The design still includes a Raptor head but the coaster track has been removed from this new version. Velocicoaster is still stated in the center of the design but replacing the Grand Opening 2021 the design now just has “More Teeth!” listed along with Jurassic World and some trademark information.
I’m happy to see that the design was finally replaced. I feel like this should have happened in 2022 soon after the attractions grand opening and initial celebration had subsided. Better late than never I guess which seems to be a common theme with pressed penny designs not just at Universal but many of the other surrounding theme parks.
Have you ever attempted to ride the Velocicoaster? Let me know what you think and maybe what other coasters it would be similar too if any. I’m certainly curious to try it. Thanks for visiting and as always Keep on Pressing!
David's Coin Travels 