Pressed Penny Jewelry – Turn Your Pressed Pennies into Treasured Keepsakes

The term “saving your pennies” will take on a whole new meaning by the time you’re done reading this post. Not only will you save your change for travel, you’ll also save your coins because you’ll want to create your own super cute souvenirs.

My obsession with pressed pennies began years ago. Pressed pennies are inexpensive, fun to collect and easy to find but what do you do with them once you have them? Well, in the past I’ve placed them in scrapbooks or more frequently, stored them away in drawers and forgotten about them. The latter of which, totally defeats the purpose of collecting them in the first place.

Then I had an idea, why not turn my pressed pennies into jewelry- necklaces, charm bracelets, even a money clip for my husband?

I loved the way the pressed penny jewelry turned out. It’s so cute!

I know you want to make some of your own so I’m going to give you a couple simple tips to follow.

Ready?

On your mark.

Get set….

Press Your Pennies!

I know this sounds pretty straightforward, just find a penny machine and press away, right? Not really. Pressed Penny collectors follow a few simple guidelines.

1. Start with a Pre-1982 penny. Pennies made before 1982 were primarily copper while pennies after 1982 are made primarily of zinc with a copper coating. When the pennies are pressed, the zinc shows through. This may not bother you, but after having both, I know I prefer the copper look.

2. Polish your pennies with a good polishing paste prior to pressing so they’re nice and shiny.

3. To ensure that you press your penny on the right side- insert your penny with Lincoln facing forward.

4. Make sure the dial is lined up to the design you want (if you have an option) before inserting your coins into the machine.

Now what?

Now that you have your pennies, you need to decide what you want to do with them. Do you want to turn them into a bracelet or necklace?

The photo of this necklace shows an example of a penny that is not Pre-1982. You can see the zinc along the bottom of the penny.

‘To turn your penny into a wearable souvenir, you’ll need to drill a tiny hole in the top of the penny (or wherever best suits your design.) I use my husband’s cordless drill with a small precision drill bit.

The rest is up to you.

You can add beads, charms or paint to your pennies to create a number of looks.

The pieces turn out super cute and the end result is a souvenir that you can wear over and over again.

Now, who wants to press some pennies?

This post is linked to Inspire Me Wednesdays with Mama Buzz where you’ll find recipes, DIY projects and crafts, and a few travel stories. Need some inspiration? Why not pop on over?