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Places To Get Coins Minted (a Growing List)


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Hopefully this thread will get pinned, since so many people ask where to get coins minted. Let's start a comprehensive list of mints that have been used to produce geocoins...

Every Thursday evening (tonight!) @ 10:00pm (eastern) there is a "Coin Mint and Coin Making Chat" that's open to the public:

 

Click Here for the Chat

 

It's scheduled so that whether you're on the East or West Coast you can still watch Survivor!

 

(Midwest, I guess you'll have to "TiVo")!

 

--Marc

October 27, 2005 @ 6:55 PM

N40° 46.565' W073° 58.756'

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DON'T use KV Coins. They're doing the NY coin and are slower than molasses going up hill both ways barefoot in the middle of a snow storm carrying a 100 pound sack of potatos. They do good work but there are so many horror stories about their slowness that it's disgusting. Personally I would never use them for anything. Except maybe to wipe my shoes on... :D;)

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I'd like to find out who the minters were for the following coins:

 

snip

 

snip

 

The first coin has a lot of fine detail that I've not seen on many coins, so I'd really like to find out who did that one for sure.

I'm not sure who made SilverMarc's coin, but I know it was struck like a real coin (the same as US currency), which is why it has such amazing detail. I'm pretty sure The Rubicon Brothers coin was made by The Caching Place. Both of those are real top quality coins, if I do say so myself.

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I contacted most all (one didn't have email) of the companies on the list I posted. Plus The Alaska Mint. I asked them a bunch of questions for both a guide I'm writing and for a coin issue I'm working on.

 

Most of them have responded and answered my questions. It's clear I'm a coin making neophyte. One company stands out so far. KV Coins. Our email exchange ended up with them telling me in so many words that I can only publish nice things about them or there may be legal repercussions. They did not show any interest whatsoever in selling me coins. I will not do business with them.

 

If I find more companies that make coins I'll add to the list I posted earlier.

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Now that I have my coins I can give a complete review for Coinsandpins.com.

 

When I first contacted them about having a coin made the quote they gave me was really expensive, but that's because I had so many extras that weren't really needed. They worked with me through about 4 or 5 different quotes until I had one that was both very affordible and included everything I really wanted.

 

They also did 5 different versions of my die art before I approved it, and were very prompt with revisions. I also didn't pay anything at all until I approved the die art.

 

I didn't count the days, but I would guess it only took about 2 weeks for the coins to be minted and then only about 4 or 5 to mail them to me. They're very, very fast. I submitted my art a week after the NY coin was submitted to KV Coins. Now I have mine already and KV is putzing around doing who knows what the the NY coins. :rolleyes:

 

Finally, the quality is top notch, I couldn't be more happy with how they turned out. So my final verdict is: use coinsandpins.com, they're the best. :P

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I am extremely pleased with TheCachingPlace.com. Their service is excellent and it was (and still is) fun to work with them.

 

I found them by recommendation from a fellow geocacher in my coin group. Another reason why I chose them was that they are able willing to do all the gc handling (label printing and/or online coin activation) as well as the fullfilment. Their website and preorder system is great. The preorders for my coins were done in about 2h and ran very smoothly.

 

Highly recommendable.

 

JeeperMTJ

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Coins and Pins was simply wonderful to work with. It may sound redundant, but I just have to post my two cents here, because we're just so happy with their service.

 

The PA coins were our group's first major coin order and it really couldn't have gone much smoother. They communicated above and beyond what I expected, were very attentive to details, and extremely patient when we got picky with the art that came back from the die maker.

 

This picture shows the impressive quality of the coins:

 

pennzoom.jpg

 

Needless to say, we're not hesitating to have them handle our next coin order!

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I'd like to find out who the minters were for the following coins:

 

The first coin has a lot of fine detail that I've not seen on many coins, so I'd really like to find out who did that one for sure.

I'm not sure who made SilverMarc's coin, but I know it was struck like a real coin (the same as US currency), which is why it has such amazing detail. I'm pretty sure The Rubicon Brothers coin was made by The Caching Place. Both of those are real top quality coins, if I do say so myself.

So sorry I didn't spot this question earlier - it's been a busy few weeks!

 

The Highland Mint (Florida) produced my SilverMarc coin, and I think they did a terrific job! I originally wanted a pure Nickel/Silver alloy coin, and we worked with that goal until almost the end when they suggested that because there was a large area of shiny silver, especially on the front, that there might be a "steamed mirror" effect caused by the metal moving during the strike. They showed me an example of what they described. They felt that going with a Silver-Plate on top of the metal would be much more shiny, and wouldn't have any possible problems with the polished look, so I agreed.

 

I was happy with their work and their attention to detail.

 

My coin was made in June/July and it was right at the onset of this huge coin minting craze, so I would expect that all of the mints are now extremely busy. Some might not have been able to "ramp up" their Customer Service to the levels needed, so take that in stride!

 

--Marc

December 1, 2005 @ 10:59 AM

N40° 46.565' W073° 58.756'

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Every Thursday evening (tonight!) @ 10:00pm (eastern) there is a "Coin Mint and Coin Making Chat" that's open to the public:

 

Use the Click Here to Enter the Chat link.

 

It's scheduled so that whether you're on the East or West Coast you can still watch Survivor!

 

(Midwest, I guess you'll have to "TiVo")!

 

--Marc

  October 27, 2005 @ 6:55 PM

  N40° 46.565'  W073° 58.756'

This Chat will take place again tonight in case anyone is interested!

 

--Marc

December 1, 2005 @ 11:10 AM

N40° 46.565' W073° 58.756'

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We used Coins For Anything for the Georgia Geocoin and had a great experience with them and have recommended them to others. I know of several other cachers that have also used them, but I'll let them promote or not as they so choose :lol:

 

T1

I got a "Bait and Switch" from Coins For Anything.

Quoted me a price, sent me an invoice which I paid in full then would not deliver my coins unless I came up with another $205.00 and would not refund all my money when I tried to cancel the order.

 

I would stay away from Coins For Anything.

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Time for another stab at KV Coins.

 

The New York coins are not the same as the proof. The two colors are both lighter than they should be on the final coins, and the box where the tracking number is engraved was enlarged without us knowing. I was shocked to find that KV Coins would change things on their own accord. If NYGO was a company like Coke and had a company palette of colors KV Coins would be getting 1000 coins returned to them so they could get it right...

 

I can no longer express how much I HATE everything about KV Coins. They are totally incompetant as far as I've seen. Doing good work doesn't make it acceptible to be a company of total buffoons. :rolleyes:

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Time for another stab at KV Coins....

I would like to point out that Vargseld's opinions are just that - his personal opinion. They do not reflect that of the New York Geocaching Organization. Vargseld designed the coin for us.

 

Other than the length of time it has taken to receive these coins, I have been very happy with the service from KV Coins. They were quick to respond to emails I sent throughout this process and shipped the coins to us on the day they promised. We chose to go with them due to the quality work we had seen on other coins such as the Geowoodstock III coin. At the time we were warned that they can be slow, but we chose to go with quality over quickness. Especially with the amount of detail required for the back of our coin.

 

Sandra (aka junglehair)

President, New York Geocaching Organization

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For whoever it was that was looking for a Canadian minter I believe Pressed Metal is in Vancouver.

 

Now for my $.02 I had my coins done by coins and pins. I couldn't be happier with the service and the result. There are a couple of things I wish I had done in the design but that is my fault not theirs. They were very helpful at all stages of the process and I actually got my coins in hand ahead of schedule. I'll definitely be using them for my next one.

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For whoever it was that was looking for a Canadian minter I believe Pressed Metal is in Vancouver.

 

Now for my $.02 I had my coins done by coins and pins. I couldn't be happier with the service and the result. There are a couple of things I wish I had done in the design but that is my fault not theirs. They were very helpful at all stages of the process and I actually got my coins in hand ahead of schedule. I'll definitely be using them for my next one.

Pressed Metal did the Oregon coins and a few others too. The detail on the Oregon is much lower that other 2D designs. I am not sure what their capabilities are beyond what was done for the Oregon coins.

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In looking at some of the new coins, I have noticed that a lot of cachers have the same back with just the geocaching logo. Should the cost be cheaper for those coins since the individuals are all using the same back and there would not be any extra die fees or am I wrong?

Yes but not by much. The cost difference really is only the difference in not having an extra die made. For a 3d die this would be about $150 for the minting so on an on order of 100-500 coins you are talking about saving $0.30 to 1.50 per coin but then you add back in $1.50 per coin for the tracking number and you are right back where you started (assuming that without that die you wouldn't be using tracking numbers).

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