To the uninitiated, ‘penny pressing’ may conjure an image of a person furiously thumbing a penny into his palm. Thankfully the real thing doesn’t involve much thumb work and is actually a fun way to bring home a souvenir. We show you how.
Pressed pennies – or elongated coins – are keepsake coins that have been flattened and embossed with another design. They were first seen in 1893, issued by private entities as commemorative memorabilia at world fairs and expositions. This practice continued until 1985 when commercial coin-operated elongated press machines were introduced and caused a boom in contemporary elongated coins, like the ones at the Resort.
Currently, there are a total of eight penny presses in the Resort. We tinkered with the Sesame Street-themed machine located within Loui’s Pizza at Universal Studios Singapore®, and we’re glad to say it’s almost foolproof. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to press your pennies properly.
Step 1: Choose your design
Each machine offers four designs that will be imprinted onto your penny. Crank the handle clockwise till your chosen design is aligned to the red arrow on the top left. IMPORTANT: Do it before inserting your money.
Step 2: Insert 2 dollars into the machine
Step 3: Crank the handle to press your penny
Your blank penny will drop from the reserve and into the rolling mills. The whole pressing process might take two or three rotations and you will feel a bit of resistance – that’s ok, that’s just your penny being flattened and embossed.
Crank till your elongated penny comes out at the till.
Ta-dah!
Step 4: Punch a hole in your penny (optional)
Located on the right side of the machine is the ‘hole puncher’. Slide your penny into it and position it according to where you’d like the hole to be. Crank the handle one full rotation and you’ve now got a penny that can be hung from key chains or necklaces.
Other than this super cute Sesame Street version, there are three other attractions-centric penny presses scattered around the park: outside Transformers Supply Vault, outside Dino Store and inside Fairy Godmother’s Potion Shop.
There’s also a Universal Studios Singapore-themed press located discreetly outside It’s a Wrap just outside the park, and another one outside Malaysian Food Street.
With designs from some of our blockbuster Universal Studios attractions:
And two Marine Life Park themed machines, one nestled at the back of the gallery overlooking the Open Ocean Habitat in S.E.A. Aquarium:
And inside Reef ‘n Wave Wear, the retail shop located just inside Adventure Cove Waterpark.
These two penny presses offer different designs, so you’ll have eight different Marine Life Park related coins to choose from.
Other than the Universal Studios Singapore penny press outside the Malaysian Food Street, relevant tickets must be bought for entry into the parks to access the Marine Life Park and Sesame Street character machines. Get your Universal Studios Singapore ticket here, your S.E.A. Aquarium tickets here, and Adventure Cove Waterpark tickets here.
Got your pressed penny? Share a picture of your collection with us! Email us at digital@rwsentosa.com.
