Carrying pennies and quarters on the plane

[snowcupid]

We plan to do pressed pennies at each park and have four m&m containers with quarters and pennies in them. My husband says we should not carry them with our personal items or carry ons and put them in our checked bag. I think they will be stolen. Can you carry them in your personal item or will they be confiscated?

 

[rhiansmom]

You will have no problems carrying the onto the plan... stick them in your carry on luggage so you don't have to empty your pockets of them

 

[larryz]

You can carry them. They won't be confiscated but the TSA types may ask you to open the bag and show them what you're carrying. They'll look a lot like batteries on the X-ray, and they'll be somewhat larger than the batteries they normally see.

That said, ANYthing of value in checked baggage is vulnerable to pilferage, so I wouldn't pack cash, prescription drugs, or anything of sentimental value you wouldn't want to lose in your checked baggage.

 

[QueenElinor]

Also depending on how close you are to your limit, those coins could put you over on weight with your checked luggage. They're pretty heavy, considering how small they are.

 

[snowcupid]

Thanks! I will carry them on then. We started packing a little today and I am getting so nervous and excited!

 

[Hannathy]

You can always just put them in the tray with your shoes and stuff. that way they can look at them easier than having to go thru your whole carry on and having to wait while they do it and for it to go back thru the xray.

 

[Mammaz]

I ran into this problem a couple of years ago and learned my lesson. I had four m and m containers of quarters and pennies. TSA really freaked and thought they were a bomb in my backpack. Since then I still carry them in the m and m containers but I also put them all in a zip lock bag and put it in the gray TSA container and send it on its way through X-ray! No problems that way and no being pulled out of line for questions!

 

[jazz0007]

I have done both......I usually have 2 containers with $10 each of quarters and a bunch of pennies. I have put them in my checked luggage a couple of times and had no problems. I have also brought them on and put them in ziplocs so I can just throw them into the tray....no problems there either.

 

[LaurenT]

If you wind up coming home with them in a pressed penny book, do yourself a favor and take it out of your bag and put it in the bin during security screening. It evidently looks suspicious on x-ray with the elongated coins all lined up like that.
We had quite the ordeal with security until the figured out what was causing the problem.

 

[QueenElinor]

Remember to get pre-1982 pennies!

I've already gone through my husband's giant mug of spare change and pulled out all the old pennies. If they look dingy, I soak them overnight in vinegar. Then they look great!

Also, where in Disney can we pick up a penny book?

 

[Gorechick]

You can pick up the penny books at the resort gift shops and most major park gift shops. We got one with Tink on the cover.

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

On our first trip to WDW in 2005, unbeknownst to us, our 11 year old son brought his savings
-all coins-
in a metal Russell Stover Salmagundi chocolate box.
($46 worth of coins it turned out )

We discovered this when we went through airport security, at about 5 am in the morning.

Of course, the box of money was in the very bottom of his back pack, so everything had to come out...

Since he was a 11 year old kid they were pretty sure it was not a bomb
But that was an experience we have never forgotten

That being said, lots of normal things set off security.
In 2010 I packed my large Disney mug in my carry on because we were staying at AKL in the studios, and I like a really LARGE cup of tea in the mornings.

After the first few minutes of trying to figure out what the problem was with my backpack, security was not happy.
They could see something that disturbed them on the x ray machine, but I had no metal, nothing but typical carry on stuff, including my mug stuffed with tea bags and socks
They took swipes and samples of the inside of my bag and tested them for residues
(residues of what??? ceramic ball bearing explosives )
Had to take everything out of my bag, and when I pulled out my mug there was an audible sigh of relief...
Well, I don't travel with my mug anymore...
But watch out! I'm packin' tea and I know how to use it!

Then on the way back from our last trip, we were hanging out in the main concourse lobby at MCO before going through security in order to eat and drink the last of our WDW snacks...
I used hand-sanitizer before eating, finished up, and then we went through security...
Where they thought I was suspicious, swiped my hands, and had me spend a minute in the "glass closet" before I passed inspection .
I had to ask what the problem was...
what had I done to set off the red flags this time?
It was the hand sanitizer... just one more example of my good luck going through security...

hey, it's all part of the adventure...
I am thankful for the TSA workers who work hard to keep us safe,
and I can vouch that they do not profile....
even tall blue eyed blonde moms with kids get scrutinized

 

[Colleen27]

We stack them in sets in M&M mini canisters and have never had a problem carrying them on. Once in a while I read about someone running into a TSA agent who asks that the container be opened just to check, but there's no reason to feel like you have to check your coins.

 

[hbr03]

Remember to get pre-1982 pennies!

I've already gone through my husband's giant mug of spare change and pulled out all the old pennies. If they look dingy, I soak them overnight in vinegar. Then they look great!

Also, where in Disney can we pick up a penny book?

Would you mind sharing why pre-1982? We're rather newbies. Thanks

 

[QueenElinor]

Would you mind sharing why pre-1982? We're rather newbies. Thanks

In 1982, they went from copper pennies to zinc pennies covered by copper. So when you press a penny that was minted 1982 or later, you will very often have the zinc show through. It's chrome or aluminum in color, and a lot of people don't like it, it's harder to see the pattern that way.

So I only bring pennies minted in 1981 or earlier. I was kind of surprised that they weren't hard to find in my husbands pile of change. Since copper prices skyrocketed last year, I had read they were being taken out of circulation because they worth quite a bit more than a penny.

 

[QueenElinor]

You can pick up the penny books at the resort gift shops and most major park gift shops. We got one with Tink on the cover.

Great! I was hoping they wouldn't be hard to find.

 

[casey10]

We had the TSA officals laughing (well after we explained what they were) between the metal pins and the stacks of pennies and quarters on our carry on (Hey we are going to Disney we need this stuff!!!)

I was able to get some uncirculated pre 1982 coin rolls and a few 1943 steel pennies for our trip this week.

Either way have fun I wouldn't worry too much they may check what you have but you are doing no wrong so no worries there.

 

[erddig]

I ran into this problem a couple of years ago and learned my lesson. I had four m and m containers of quarters and pennies. TSA really freaked and thought they were a bomb in my backpack. Since then I still carry them in the m and m containers but I also put them all in a zip lock bag and put it in the gray TSA container and send it on its way through X-ray! No problems that way and no being pulled out of line for questions!

Yes, I had a similar incident with TSA, I still put them in my carry on but not in the m&m container but in a ziplock bag, loose with the m&m tube. No problems now.