Riverfront Park’s souvenir penny presses could be phased out in favor of new coin

Coin souvenirs at Riverfront Park and elsewhere may soon be wider and silvery.

With the final U.S. pennies minted in November, Bullseye Amusements in Spokane is considering switching the company’s souvenir penny presses to quarter presses, said Shawn McKay, who owns Bullseye along with his brother Gene McKay.

Bullseye leases out about five presses, including two at Riverfront Park and to Market Street Pizza. He said his daughters, Kelsey and Kristen McKay, design what goes onto the coins with input from clients.

The Spokane parks department has leased penny presses since at least 2011, said Riverfront Park Director Jon Moog. The city gets half the revenue. In 2025, the city got $1,614. At 50 cents per press, that suggests park attendees pressed more than 6,000 pennies last year.

Moog said that there hasn’t yet been a penny shortage either at park concessions or for the penny presses.

“The penny offers us a unique customized souvenir,” Moog said.

The four pressed design choices on Riverfront’s penny press at the Looff Carrousel are the carrousel, the Garbage Goat, the SkyRide and Spokane Falls. Designs available on the Skate Ribbon press are the ribbon, the Pavilion, the Clocktower and the children’s letter block sculpture. (The Looff’s press was out of order on Tuesday.)

McKay said no other part of Bullseye’s arcade game business likely will be affected by the end of the penny.

“None of our stuff takes pennies anymore,” McKay said. “The penny press was the last holdout.”