Ten Commandments Of Geocaching

[+maldar]

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm working on my first coin and one of my biggest concerns is making just the right number of coins. What has been people's best experiance quantity wise? In other words, for coins you have had made, what quantity seemed to work the best for you?

 

Right now I'm at the stage of paying for the die and getting samples so I don't want to list the coin itself here as I'm not 100% sure on what finishes I will have. I know that where will be 4 finishes and the coin will be 3 in tall by 2 in wide with 3mm thickness.

 

As a second thought/question. What finishes do people prefer on their coins? One that I know will not work on my design is Black Nickel or a really dark finish, so if you have any other favorites please post them.

 

Thanks,

 

Maldar

Edited July 14, 2008 by Flying Spaghetti Monster

[+sweetlife]

Almost always my favorite metal is copper. Anyways greeting to a Michigander from here in Wisconsin, but with wife formly from Michigan as well, plus we have many friends in Michigan, not to mention we collect coin from people in Michigan, so regardless your coin will be wanted for sure, whatever your doing for a coin design I am sure will look very nice.

 

sweetlife

[+RifleMan81]

Can't help you on the number, but I can say that I tend to like antique finishes over polished and I also like silver more than gold. You ruled out my favorite, Black Nickel.

 

I think the amount you'll be able to sell/trade will depend on the design. If the design is good then you shouldn't have a problem getting rid of 250 of them. If the design isn't that great, but you're well know in the geocoin community, you could still expect to get a lot of trades for them. Good luck with it!

[+Droo]

It's hard to figure what you mean by number of coins to mint. What's the best number to make so you can sell enough to cover your expenses and still have enough left over to trade, leave in caches and the like? I guess if anyone really knew that there would be no debate on reservations vs. pre-sales. The big question is how well your coin is received so it will sell well.

 

It's really hard to say which finish works the best as it all really depends on the coin... on the artwork. Sight unseen it's next to impossible to judge. So my suggestion would be to post pics of the samples and let the jury decide for you if you can't. Also be careful about falling in love with all the finishes. Too many options will not get you a lot of people buying 1 of each, IMO. K.I.S.S.

 

Best of luck and congrats on getting your coin minted.

Edited June 25, 2008 by Droo

[+ThePetersTrio]

What finishes do people prefer on their coins? One that I know will not work on my design is Black Nickel or a really dark finish, so if you have any other favorites please post them.

 

As others have said, it depends upon the coin. But something you might not know is that you can have samples made up (for a fee but IMO it's worth it) in various metals to actually have in your hand so you can decide what you like best. You can also have these samples made to be part of your tracking lot (if you choose to do a trackable coin) thereby potentially giving you some one-of-a-kind coins to trade or sell.

 

Good luck with your project!!

[RedShoesGirl]

i am wondering about the size - 3" tall! that is huge! but perhaps your design requires that size to be seen. anyway, without seeing the sample, it is hard to guess what the best number would be. you have to go with your gut and if they don't sell, well, there is always swag for caches. good luck!

 

rsg who likes smaller coins rather than larger

[+fairyhoney]

i am wondering about the size - 3" tall! that is huge! but perhaps your design requires that size to be seen. anyway, without seeing the sample, it is hard to guess what the best number would be. you have to go with your gut and if they don't sell, well, there is always swag for caches. good luck!

 

rsg

 

WE tend to like to see the pictures . It must be a shape type coin ? I have never had a coin made up just a geotag geocoin. Would this be trackable? If you want your own icon, I'm sure you'll need to make at least 250?

 

Fairyhoney

[+derschlings]

I agree with Droo... without seeing the coin, it's gonna be tough to make a really good suggestion. My personal likes are for antique copper and antique gold... then again there are some magnificent shiny gold and silver ones out there.

In general, if you have 3D work, then the antique finishes really make the 3D "POP"...

Main thing is that you produce something that you like.

Personally, I like it when folks post their artwork, revised artwork, samples, revised samples...

it's just cool to know a bit of the history of the coin.

It seems that what folks do not like is to pay for a coin and then not get the coin for a month or two.

 

so...

I hope we've all convinced you to post some art

 

oh, one more thing: take it from the PeoplePlumber: size matters... just not as much as most would lead you to believe...

I've seen some folks do some pretty amazing things with micros

[+maldar]

OK, ok. I will post the artwork. Just need to give it a once over, as I keep tweating it alittle here and there.

[+maldar]

Here is what I'm looking at producing.

 

 

I decided on the tablet look because that is how I always viewed the 10 commandments. While I did think to have something resembling cracks throughout the design I decided against that form. I thought that cracks implied great age and since Geocaching is so young they would not appropriate. Before anyone ask, I received permission from Dave Ulmer to use his name and mozartman gave me permission to use his version of the Commandments. I thought mozartman's version were more inline with the original Commandments, not to mention they were the first I read and inspired me to do this coin.

 

The following plating is what I was considering:

 

10 Polished Gold

 

10 Antqiue Gold

 

1/2 of Remainder as Antqiue Silver

 

Other half as Antqiue Copper

 

The first 2 would be ones I'm using for personal use. My current estimated price is $7/coin.

 

Well, tell me what you think. Any constructive comments are appreciated.

 

EDIT: Changed picture

Edited June 25, 2008 by maldar

[+derschlings]

I love this!

just a couple thoughts:

this will be magnificent in shiny gold.

I think 3D with the stone tablet look with the lettering engraved would be cooler... antique finish on the tablet with shiny gold letters.

Use Hebrew numerals rather than Roman numerals (I can pretty well guarantee that IF the original commandments were numbered that it was certainly NOT with Roman numerals )

I can't wait for this one to be available!

[+derschlings]

I'd recommend that you get a sample in black nickel with shiny gold lettering... that may be a killer combo.

[+Taubin_ZL2TOY]

All I have to say is this... If these are made, (and I think they should be, because they are awesome), and I miss the sale of them, I will cry... And really, do you want to see a grown man cry?

[+maldar]

I love this!

just a couple thoughts:

this will be magnificent in shiny gold.

I think 3D with the stone tablet look with the lettering engraved would be cooler... antique finish on the tablet with shiny gold letters.

Use Hebrew numerals rather than Roman numerals (I can pretty well guarantee that IF the original commandments were numbered that it was certainly NOT with Roman numerals )

I can't wait for this one to be available!

 

I like your numbering idea, but I would rather see binary; as we are talking tech. As for the gold lettering, I will have to think about it; but it does sound really interesting. What do you think about a glow-in-the-dark green fill on black nickel?

 

While I agree that the 3D stone look would be interesting. I really like the clean look to represent tech/new/young. That could be a design for the future. Think CompassRose Coins, just not as often.

 

I do have 2 other coins I'm working on. One is going to be my niece's, MonkeyKathleen, Personal Coin. If you visit here profile you can see the piece of art I'm working with. The other one is going to be my Personal Coin, which will larger than this one I think. There will be a mini coin that will be a companion coin to my personal coin.

 

Maldar

[+kdv]

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the Roman numerals. Maybe they didn't originally use them, but then again, I am sure the wording wasn't in English either.) I don't know what Hebrew numbers look like, but are they going to be generally recognized as being numerals?

I think it's a cool coin idea, but maybe it would be even cooler if you added some small graphical element under the curved text at the top. Right now it's all text and nothing else.

 

Edit to add:

About the metals, maybe Satin Nickel would work good as it will give you more of a 'stoney' look.

Edited June 26, 2008 by kdv

[+gardengorilla]

 

While I agree that the 3D stone look would be interesting. I really like the clean look to represent tech/new/young. That could be a design for the future. Think CompassRose Coins, just not as often.

 

Maldar

 

If you are trying to go tech and clean, why use stone tablets at all? How about a GPSr screen...my GPSr is sort of the same shape as the tablets and it would be more interesting to have some kind of design on there other than text...

[+maldar]

If you are trying to go tech and clean, why use stone tablets at all? How about a GPSr screen...my GPSr is sort of the same shape as the tablets and it would be more interesting to have some kind of design on there other than text...

 

I did think about that, but this is what my vision was when I first thought about the coin. I thought about using a little GPS below the curve lettering, or the open source Geocaching logo. One of the reasons I chose not to use a GPS form was that not everyone has the same unit. I would have to lean towards the Garmin GPS units as that is what I use. I will take any suggestion through the weekend. I have paid to have the dies made, but I emailed them to hold off if they have not started. If they have already started the dies I will just go with this design, but I like to have input and I should have asked for it before I got so far along.

 

I will post up the other coin I'm working on to get suggestions.

 

Thanks for all your input,

 

maldar

[+fairyhoney]

This IS a nice looking coin. What I don't see nor have read about whether it is trackable ? If it is, would That info be on the side?

Just wondering .

[+FLIPPER&CO]

Would love to have some of these. Looks awesome. Today we got Celtic Suns, the set to get the LE Copper, but actually think the Silver one is the best. Sometimes it does not gel in the design untill you get the real thing. Will they be trackable? I can see this would be a good seller, hope not to miss out

10c worth from the Flipper's

Cheers

Gayle & Mark

[+Eartha]

It says to the left that it is trackable on geocaching.com, and the number will be laser etched on the 3mm thick edge.

Hehe, you know that's the first thing I look for, right?

[+fairyhoney]

It says to the left that it is trackable on geocaching.com, and the number will be laser etched on the 3mm thick edge.

Hehe, you know that's the first thing I look for, right?

 

Oops, So sorry, So That is what it is . Here I was only looking at the coin (Thank you)

[+joranda]

I would shoot for 100-150 coins to be made. If they go over well you can always get more made at a cheaper rate since the die is already done. Just food for thought.

[+joranda]

Double post.

Edited June 27, 2008 by joranda

[+maldar]

I'm thinking about getting 250 done so I can get the icon. Icon would look just like the tablet, but have 2008 along the side incase I decide to do another run or similar coin in the future.

 

The response has been good thus far.

 

maldar

[+maldar]

Hello again everyone,

 

Here is the effection picture I just received from the mint.

 

 

They will be working on the dies and I hope to have the samples in hand next week if all goes as planned.

 

Maldar

[+007BigD]

Check with your minter to see if there is a price break after a certain number of coins. I have heard that 300 is the magic number, but really have no idea.

 

You should be able to get quotes as to different quantities made and may even want to ask about a certain number when a pricebreak may be avail. Shoot if it is at 300, then youd be paying significantly less for the extra 50 and may be worth the little bit extra they may cost...Dunno

 

Other than that id say 250 is a good place to start.

[+maldar]

Check with your minter to see if there is a price break after a certain number of coins. I have heard that 300 is the magic number, but really have no idea.

 

You should be able to get quotes as to different quantities made and may even want to ask about a certain number when a pricebreak may be avail. Shoot if it is at 300, then youd be paying significantly less for the extra 50 and may be worth the little bit extra they may cost...Dunno

 

Other than that id say 250 is a good place to start.

 

Thanks for the info. I asked for quotes on every 50 past 250 through 500.

 

maldar

[+backhiker]

Hello again everyone,

 

Here is the effection picture I just received from the mint.

 

 

They will be working on the dies and I hope to have the samples in hand next week if all goes as planned.

 

Maldar

 

Maldar did you notice the space in "false" (roman numeral 9)? You want to get that fixed on the art before they make the dies!

[+avroair]

I read through the thread and didn't see much information so here goes:

 

(1) what do you want to do with the coins, sell them, trade them, leave them in caches?

 

(2) trackable or non trackable ~ minimum 100 trackable or no limit on non trackable

 

(3) 250 for a custom icon, 100 for a generic icon

[+maldar]

Thanks for the info on the word false. I also noticed that they used a period instead of a comma else where in the coin.

 

I read through the thread and didn't see much information so here goes:

 

(1) what do you want to do with the coins, sell them, trade them, leave them in caches?

 

(2) trackable or non trackable ~ minimum 100 trackable or no limit on non trackable

 

(3) 250 for a custom icon, 100 for a generic icon

 

The last two questions have been answered. Still good questions.

 

1) I will need to sell most I think to cover the expense as I don't have the money to do it otherwise. It would be nice to just make what I want and trade, but I cannot. I don't think I would make a coin that was not trackable at this point.

 

2) The thread has a second picture where it shows the placement of the Trackable information.

 

3) 250 is the minimum I got qoutes for, because I would like to have a custom Icon.

 

Thanks,

 

maldar

[+maldar]

Here are pics of the samples that the mint emailed me. The samples should be in my hands by the end of next week if all goes well, the begining the the week after that otherwise.

 

I would like people to vote for their favorite 2 platings and explain why.

 

There is one more plate they are doing, Antqiue Gold. I don't remember asking for it, but she said that it was still being finished. I think it will look much like the Antqiue Copper.

 

Can the Mod change the name of the thread to: "10 Commandments, choose your colors. See post #31."

 

Thanks for everyones help. If all goes well I will start taking pre-sales at the end of the month.

 

 

 

 

My choices are the Antqiue Copper and Antqiue Silver for the regular edition. Silver for LE and Gold for XLE/AE.

 

Thanks again,

 

maldar

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Title updated for the OP.

[+BrierPatch]

Antqiue Copper and Antqiue Silver

Because I like them

[+Kealia]

First coin that I've seen in a while (non personal) that's clever and caching related.

 

Nice job.

[+RifleMan81]

#1 Ant. Silver

#2 Ant. Copper

 

I like those two b/c the text is easy to read. It may be just the photo, but the others look like the text would be hard to read.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

#1 Ant. Silver

#2 Ant. Copper

 

I like those two b/c the text is easy to read. It may be just the photo, but the others look like the text would be hard to read.

 

My vote as well, nice job!

[+hollora]

Perhaps a silly question - but are these trackable? Where is that information on the coin? Nice - regardless....

 

Ahhhh - sorry - missed it at the beginning - laser on the edge - very cool!

Edited July 14, 2008 by hollora

[+maldar]

I'm in the final stages of minting my coins and need a bit of help as to what I should call these colors on the plating. The mint calls what I see as Antqiue Gold, Antqiue Copper and vise versa.

 

 

To me this is Antqiue Gold

 

 

And I think this as Antqiue Copper

 

The mint states that it is the reverse of what I think.

 

What is you opinion? I was just going to order it as what they call it and then state on my sales page the color as I think they should be called. Am I wrong to do this? To me copper is an orange color and Gold is a yellow color.

 

Thanks,

 

maldar

[+Bhob]

they are your coins - call them what you want

 

as far as I am concerned, you can order them in "black nickel" and call them "pink" if you like

[+BrierPatch]

Call it what you want I like the copper.

[+Eartha]

Merging this with the original thread for this coin. Please remember, one coin, one thread, keep the history all in one place. We can always update the title.

[+maldar]

I have just listed the coins on eBay.

 

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/maldar

 

The above link will lead you to the my items listed.

 

Please feel free to post this info on your local caching group's site.

 

Thanks,

 

maldar

[+Map Monkey]

I don't believe paying US $26.95 just for shipping to Australia is acceptable for this coin . with each successive coin purchase (in the same package i assume) costing another US$26 or so. ..... i haven't even added the cost of the coin yet (which is not too bad for its size).

 

Can you please revise the costs accordingly, otherwise i suspect there will be next to none overseas purchases.

 

BTW what is the cost of "mandatory" insurance? Is it a percentage based system, and if so, how much are we talking?

 

mm

[+maldar]

I don't believe paying US $26.95 just for shipping to Australia is acceptable for this coin . with each successive coin purchase (in the same package i assume) costing another US$26 or so. ..... i haven't even added the cost of the coin yet (which is not too bad for its size).

 

Can you please revise the costs accordingly, otherwise i suspect there will be next to none overseas purchases.

 

BTW what is the cost of "mandatory" insurance? Is it a percentage based system, and if so, how much are we talking?

 

mm

 

WOW, I may have to do international shipping differently. The shipping is based on weight. Send me a message via GC.c, no the forums PM, with you mailing info and I will head to the post office and check on prices. Also state how many you were looking to purchase. What shipping option did you select? I have both 1st class and Priority available. That may have been the difference.

 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention and I will correct it as soon as possible one I have your information and can better determine why it is so much. I will also check with UPS and see what the cost are there.

 

The insurance is figured automatically and should be based on the cost of the item.

 

Thanks again,

 

maldar

[+maldar]

Just check the USPS.com site and first class for 3 coins is $9.00, Flat Rate Priority is $11.95, Regular Priority is $22.50, and Express Flat rate is $26.00. All prices listed in USD.

 

I will modify the shipping accordingly.

 

Just when to eBay and Updated the shipping information. Please try it again and report back to me. The insurance for international orders is now included in the shipping and handling.

 

Thanks again,

 

maldar

 

Edit: info about eBay update.

Edited August 11, 2008 by maldar

[+maldar]

OK, after about 1/2 an hour of experimenting I think I have everything fixed. The problem was also messing with the domestic shipping services. It was my fault as it was some very old shipping preferances. If anyone encounters any other issues please send me a message via GC.c or post it here.

 

I want to thank Map Monkey again for bringing this to my attention.

 

Sorry that I have so many post back to back.

 

Thanks again,

 

maldar

[+Map Monkey]

Just when to eBay and Updated the shipping information. Please try it again and report back to me. The insurance for international orders is now included in the shipping and handling.

Thanks for fixing that.....i initially checked out the postage for 10 of them and was shocked at seeing the postage costs alone to be US$251.20.

 

Nice to see the insurance included in the postage costs......makes more sense than being hit by the costs at a later stage of the transaction.

 

mm

[+Eartha]

Title change at OP's request.

[+AtlantaGal]

Pre-paid for a set. When do you expect to have these in hand and ready to ship?

[+maldar]

My expected ship date at the latest is September 18th. The goal is to have them earlier than that. Ideally I hope for the begining of September. I may have to move up my time frame to keep inside the eBay Pre-Sales window as the sets have flown out the door.

 

I have set-up a website for my coins for now. It is located at:

 

www.thestevens.name

 

I have a Twitter on the homepage for coin updates, but I'm having issues with it displaying correctly in IE6, FireFox works good, except for the colors being shown incorrectly. I spend time trying to fix it, but may have to do manual updates. If anyone knows much about getting twitter to display correctly on a homepage please contact me via GC.c

 

For those not in the know. The Black Nickel with Gold Glitter Enamel are the LE with only 40 coins being minted, 10 offered in the Pre-Sale set, 10 offered individually in the Pre-Sale, 10 being held for after Pre-Sales have shipped and 10 for various other things such as gifts and cointest.

 

10 XLE coins in Antique Red Copper are also being minted and will not be sold.

 

Both of those color schemes will not be reminted, EVER!!!!