How souvenir penny presses could survive after the end of one-cent coin

A wheel cranks on the machine at the Independence Visitor Center, slowing with every turn until: CLINK! A reward drops out the bottom waiting to be collected.

- Emily Bloch, Tribune News Service

Ali Formail of Spokane, Washington, cranks one of the penny press machines in the Independence Visitor Center.

It’s a familiar, elongated penny. In its new form, Honest Abe’s head is swapped for an illustration of Rocky — naturally.

Philadelphia — along with other cities with tourist draws nationwide — is peppered with old-school penny press machines, allowing visitors to mark a noteworthy trip with an inexpensive souvenir. It’s a tried-and-true practice that could be in peril now that the US Treasury has ended penny production.

After a 232-year run, the government announced it was ending penny production because of its eroded value and the rise of digital payment systems. A final batch was struck recently at the Philadelphia Mint.

Dating back more than a century, penny press machines can be found in museums, at visitor centers, at zoos, and on boardwalks, usually costing only a dollar for a kitschy souvenir. The first elongated souvenir coins in the United States date to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, with four designs to commemorate the event.

Old City’s Independence Visitor Center and a handful of other historic locations across town continue to offer machines to press those pennies into something new and beautiful.