Ever seen those penny-squasher devices? You put two quarters and a penny in, turn a crank, and out comes a penny that has been squashed in a press and now has a souvenir design on it.
Bernard’s got a collection:
He’s got 138 of them in total, from all over the world. Most of them are pennies but there’s a few euro cents, British pennies and even pressed blanks as well.
That’s a selection, showing pennies squashed in (from top left) England, Tokyo, Hawaii, Ireland, Australia and Scotland. Some of these Bernard did himself; the others came from me. In fact whenever I see a machine I always press him at least one.
That one I got him in Wales at the now closed Dr Who experience. I imagine it’s worth a lot of money now ;P
This one is a bit of a mystery. It’s a euro coin, which means either we (KLS and I) did it in Ireland or B got it in Germany back when we visited. But I’m not sure what it actually is? Any ideas?
Here’s a very rare double-sided penny that we pressed at – can you guess? – The London Eye. It’s got the usual souvenir picture on the front and this nice little impression on the back. This one must be a prize in his collection!
The pennies store in these nifty folders of which he has four. These guys are much rarer than the squashers themselves, so if you’re planning a collection of your own be sure to grab one when you see it!
And if you’re ever somewhere weird and see a squasher, why not press a penny yourself? Even if you don’t want it, you can send it to Bernard 🙂