It's not exactly pennies from heaven, but McDonald's is planning to make it rain coins to celebrate the Big Mac's 50th anniversary.

Starting at the lunch rush on Thursday, customers can receive a MacCoin with the purchase of a Big Mac at 14,000 participating restaurants acrossthe United States, McDonald's announced Sunday.

And what's the coin good for? Another Big Mac.

Customers can redeem the new currency for a free Big Mac starting Friday and running throughout the rest of 2018.

In an Interview with USA TODAY, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook explained Thursday was selected as the release date for the brass-coloredcoins because it would've been the 100th birthday of Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchisee in western Pennsylvania who invented the Big Mac.

McDonald's sold 1.3 billion Big Macs last year, according to the chain.

MacCoins will feature five unique designs, each representing a decade of the Big Mac.

To read the complete article, see:
McDonald'sunveils MacCoin to celebrate Big Mac's 50th anniversary(https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/07/29/mcdonalds-unveils-maccoin-celebrate-big-macs-50th-anniversary/844522002/)

The sandwich that inspired the jingle "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun" was invented in1967 in the kitchen of Jim Delligatti's first McDonald's franchise, located on McKnight Road in suburban Pittsburgh's Ross Township. The sandwich wasintroduced at that location first, and then went nationwide in 1968.

Each MacCoin token has no cash value and is redeemable only for one free Big Mac at participating McDonald's restaurants through 2018.

The commemorative tokens feature five unique reverse designs, one representing each decade of the Big Mac.

To read the complete article, see:
McDonald's celebrates Big Mac 50thanniversary with token promotion (https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2018/08/mcdonalds-launches-big-mac-token-promotion.html)

They were issued by McDonald's to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac. Hooray.

You can bet I will be at my local McDonald's repeatedly to buy a Big Mac and receive my coin.

It looks like I will have to return again and again to collect the whole set. There will be five designs. Each of them honors one decade in the50-year run of this tasty burger.

The question is, will this promotion appeal to younger generations? Will many of them discover when they receive and use these MacCoins that theyhave an interest in coin collecting? I hope so.

The coin collecting hobby could not ask for a greater promotional gift. There are millions of customers of the Golden Arches. This is a 50-countrypromotion.

The most critical aspect to this promotion is that MacCoins are intended to be used. They will be redeemable for the rest of 2018. Technically,this makes them a good-for token. They have value because they are good for a Big Mac. They are spendable only with the issuer, which is the historicpurpose of a good-for token.

If I seem a little excited, I am.

Who would have thought in the age of Bitcoin that we would see a national chain of restaurants revert to something so familiar to coin collectorsas a new promotion?

To read the complete article, see:
Who has hunger for the new MacCoins?(http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/who-has-hunger-for-the-new-maccoins)

NGC, the world's largest third-party grading service for coins, medals and tokens, has already begun to receive MacCoins forcertification.

NGC examined a MacCoin in its X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer, and determined it to be brass - or, more precisely, 70 percent copper and 30percent zinc. The MacCoin has a diameter of 32 mm and weighs 10.9 grams, making it slightly wider and lighter than a Kennedy Half Dollar.

According to McDonalds, more than 6.2 million MacCoins will be distributed.

John Mutch writes:

To read the complete article, see:
NGC Grading McDonald's MacCoin Tokens(https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/6759/maccoin/)