Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Art Penny Press topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission debates penny-press purchase, vendor costs and coin choice
Summary
The North St. Paul Arts and Culture Commission discussed buying a penny-press machine but deferred final purchase steps pending City Council approval; members debated coin choice (copper blanks vs. nickels/dimes), technical costs (new die rollers ~$825) and operational logistics (warranty, in‑house repairs, exact-change signage).
The North St. Paul Arts and Culture Commission spent a substantive portion of its Jan. 7 meeting debating whether to buy a penny-press vending machine and, if so, how it should operate.
Staff member Jordan Layman reviewed vendor details and said the device’s new die rollers cost about $825 and include four designs on a single die, meaning design changes would likely require replacing all four. Jordan also said the standard two-year warranty covers phone support only and that the city would have to handle most repairs in-house through public works.
Commissioners pressed practical questions. Carrie Neto said the vendor noted pennies are no longer being produced but that “it’s cheaper to buy copper blanks” that can be pressed, and adapters are available to press nickels or dimes. Jordan added that a card-reader option would likely raise the price substantially — she said she had seen a $10,000 figure for a unit including card acceptance — and that card readers would require continuous power and more complicated daily accounting.
Several commissioners favored selecting a commonly circulating coin. Sharon Clark Williams argued for a coin people are “readily available to them” and recommended nickels or dimes over pennies. Commissioners also discussed pricing the machine’s play fee (options ranged from 50 cents to $1) and how to manage cash: Sharon proposed signage noting “exact change only” so staff would not be expected to make change.
Jordan said the purchase was not completely budgeted for 2026 and that, because the penny-press is a larger, atypical purchase, it would likely need City Council approval. Troy Woods offered to introduce the project at an upcoming council meeting to give commissioners an opportunity to present and answer questions.
No final purchase motion was made; commissioners asked staff to gather missing cost details (adapter and card-reader pricing, die configuration costs and operational constraints) and to plan for a council presentation once those figures are available.
