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Announcing: The Eclectic Penguin coin!

Eclectic Penguin

By Eclectic Penguin
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gardengorilla

+gardengorilla

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AAAARRRGGGHH!!! :D I was just processing my order when it converted into Australian Dollars - $20 for one coin plus shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't do that, I'm sorry :D

 

This may be the start of me only trading for a while :D The Aussie dollar is woeful. ;)

 

Yeah, I noticed AFTER I had paid...convenient I know :D

Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Well, I guess the penguin is now out of the bag! I inteded to announce the coin here on this forum this evening after those who had registered prior interest had a chance to get orders in along with a picture of the 2 finishes currently available - I guess the picture can wait a couple of hours.

 

(sorry if I missed you out if you'd contacted me - the ones that emailed me at my epcoin@eclectic... email address were easy to gather but I may have missed out a couple who contacted me directly through Groundspeak - there are still plenty left for now)

 

As has been posted previously, the online shop is now open for the penguin coins:

http://www.eclectic-penguin.org.uk/cart

 

Both coins have a picture there, both front and back, for anyone who wants to see what they look like, though the picture on my initial post of the original sample coin is pretty much identical to the final minted coin.

 

Also, a few people I know have been following the development of this coin from its inception on a blog that's dedicated to the coin. I'm now happy to make that public knowledge also:

http://www.eclectic-penguin.org.uk/coin/blog4.php

 

There's also some more information there about the limited edition (including signed & numbered card) gold version of the coin which won't be generally available. 10 will go on auction at random intervals on e-bay (numbers 2-11). Most of the others will be witheld for now.

 

Cheesy Pig - I guess that answers the mystery of the one order that didn't complete on the CubeCart system - I guess I'll cancel that one now that I know what happened!

 

As to orders - anyone who ordered before 10pm GMT last night - the package is already in the postal system. There were quite a lot of them and kept me up 'till past midninght!

 

There are already roughly as many again to process today - they're selling very quickly...

Edited by Eclectic Penguin
Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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I appreciate that currency conversion can work against purchases at present - at the moment it favours Americans and Europeans as the pound is especially weak compared to the Dollar (and the Euro too £1 is almost €1 now) - but I don't know how it compares with other currencies.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that P&P is based on weight so I think it costs the same to ship 1 coin as it does 3 to most destinations.

Edited by Eclectic Penguin
Crowesfeat30

+Crowesfeat30

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AAAARRRGGGHH!!! :D I was just processing my order when it converted into Australian Dollars - $20 for one coin plus shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't do that, I'm sorry :D

This may be the start of me only trading for a while :D The Aussie dollar is woeful. ;)

Yeah, I noticed AFTER I had paid...convenient I know :D

I have made a practice of using a currency converter when shopping on European coin stores before finalizing orders so I know approximately how much I will be being charged in US dollars. If the converted amount (usually including shipping) comes out to less than or around $10 US per coin - and I can afford the expense - I will buy the coin or coins. I wish I could afford to buy more "trading fodder" - so I can trade with those who's currency conversion is too brutal - when I order coins for myself but usually I can't.

 

CF30

Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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All orders recieved to date have now been handed to the postal service though the batch I sent today I'm told won't go until Friday due to the new year. Well over half of the conventional coins (antique bronze and copper) are now accounted for.

 

Shh - don't tell anyone, but one of the limited edition gold version of the coin has just gone up for auction on e-bay...

Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Ebay auction "180317466308"

 

Goldie #1...

 

Only a few people even showed an interest and just looked at the auction page though based on statistics provided by Ebay which is pretty poor compared to previous items I've auctioned. Maybe I went about the start of this the wrong way?

 

Nah - I guess this is the credit crunch.

 

Hey ho - the coin's out there, so happy bidding.

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Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Thanks for the lovely comments!

 

The response for these coins has been awesome - I now announce that copper is now officially on the endangered species list - less than 20 left* for general sale through my e-shop, after only 5 days of sale. Antique Bronse (which I think looks better than copper myself) is not quite there yet - but still getting close.

 

Whith this response, I will almost certainly be minting more - but never in this exact combination. I'll change dye type, or maybe some colours on the new coins as this isn't an additional expense above and beyond...

 

I fancy a luminous belly and eyes on at least some of the next run, should they be made... :unsure:

 

Thanks to the marvelous support from all the South Wales (U.K.) Geocachers for encouraging me to get this rolling and once again for all the comments here! Major thanks to Oakcoins who made the entire process feel like it was a well oiled machine!

 

As a heads-up for the future - I'm currently coordinating the design and production of a coin that will first be made available in May, for the annual South Wales Geocaching event, and will then be made generally available over the internet. Once designs are finalised, I'll be posting artwork and details on this forum. It'll have a distinctive South Wales feel - a celtic design on part of the coin, will have part of the Welsh flag on it in some way - and we've decided that the head side will feature something that many people feel epitomises the last 200 years of industry in South Wales - a 3D design of a coal mine pithead. Preliminary artwork from Oakcoins looks gorgeous! Please - no expressions of interest to the Eclectic Penguin email address or here yet - but I'll announce it formally in due course to gague interest.

 

 

* a small number have been witheld for now to cater for orders lost in the post, which I suspect will inevetably happen - though I'm fully insured for all packages sent to date

Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Congratulations to wheelybarrow I think, who has won the first e-bay auction for a limited edition gold coin - certainly the bidder has the same name caching name and I think the addresses match too!

 

[Edit: I don't think I can easily check addresses until paypal payment has gone through, but I'm pretty sure its our Wheelybarow from this forum].

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Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Dear me - no sooner as one is snapped up - 2 more Goldies escape the colony!

 

I don't quite know where they are in ebay land yet - one may well be visible already, I'm sure I sam him waddling about over the horizon earlier on, but the other is still out of sight for now.

 

Still - I'm sure people'll start spotting the errant pair soon...

wheelybarrow

+wheelybarrow

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Congratulations to wheelybarrow I think, who has won the first e-bay auction for a limited edition gold coin - certainly the bidder has the same name caching name and I think the addresses match too!

 

[Edit: I don't think I can easily check addresses until paypal payment has gone through, but I'm pretty sure its our Wheelybarow from this forum].

 

Yes it is the same Wheelybarrow - looking forward to getting the last member of the Penguin family (for now anyway) :)

millieballon

+millieballon

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Special delivery today:

 

1989e400-8971-46de-894e-b76db9a41bc4.jpg

 

They had a small accident:

42cfb383-d4af-4e5f-8e07-6f5e5d77ee3f.jpg

 

They survived on the cold ice.

9a8549c2-852a-445d-9e4d-2285297f4959.jpg

 

I have some for trade and I evenhave a gold one for trading.

(The gold one has not been on the ice :unsure: )

Edited by millieballon
Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Looks like is icy with you too - I took this on Sunday afternoon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7841691@N05/3176574434/

 

It is really fun over here. At the moment some caches are done by skating in stead of using small boats!

If the weather stays good this weekend i'm going to move some coins by skates.

 

Well, GCGEWW (Llyn Y Gwaith) cache could have been easily skated over on the day I was up there - but we were also warned about people who had fallen through thin ice and died on the radio on the same day.

 

I walked over the skirts of the lake and they felt quite firm :yikes:

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Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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preseli, if you would like to sell your extra gold penguin please LMK. I wanted to bid but was out doing maintenance runs on my caches and missed both auctions. :ninja:

 

There will be more Goldies available on ebay - I tried to put another on there last night but there was something wrong with my ebay account last night some reason and I couldn't put any items up for auction.

 

I guess this is also a good time to announce that 2 orders from this current production run have been randomly selected for a surprise bonus free Goldie penguin - one has already gone out a few days ago and the other is due to be selected quite soon I hope.

sunsetmeadowlark

+sunsetmeadowlark

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preseli, if you would like to sell your extra gold penguin please LMK. I wanted to bid but was out doing maintenance runs on my caches and missed both auctions. :laughing:

 

There will be more Goldies available on ebay - I tried to put another on there last night but there was something wrong with my ebay account last night some reason and I couldn't put any items up for auction.

 

I guess this is also a good time to announce that 2 orders from this current production run have been randomly selected for a surprise bonus free Goldie penguin - one has already gone out a few days ago and the other is due to be selected quite soon I hope.

 

OH MY!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,!!! I got my first shipment of penguins today and it's a darn good thing I was parked when my son tipped the penguins out of the bag and I saw the gold one fall into his hand. If I had actually been driving I'm quite sure I would have put us in the ditch! All three of the coins are truly gorgeous but the little gold fellow was such a surprise that he is by far my favorite. Thanks again for the wonderful surprise, great coins, and super fast shipping!

Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Copper edition has now officially sold out - only 3 weeks after going on sale - I was expecting them to shift quickly but not this quick. I was expecting a couple of months wait before a return on my investment - not 2 weeks!

 

There is a small number held back for coins lost in the post and these may be available in future for auction on ebay or swaps. No more of this exact design will be minted - but keep your eyes posted as there will be more Eclectic Penguins available soon of a different variety.

 

Antique bronze is not far behind with only 9 left.

opalsns

+opalsns

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Woo Hooo

I was one of the LUCKY folks who got a copper Penguin.

Copper is my favorite finish and when I opened the package, well, it was love art first sight. I posted in the Mailbox thread but forgot to tell you!!!

Shipping was so fast, seemed like only a couple of days. Was so surprised.

Cant wait for more to be born!!!!!!!

Thanx

Opalsns

Eclectic Penguin

+Eclectic Penguin

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Every single coin in this batch has been mailed on the day after I received and processed the order. I don't know if I could keep that up for future coins as it has meant standing in line at the post office during my lunch break almost every day since the new year and not socializing with colleagues as much - but it's been worth it just to read people's reactions, and I'm sure many more have had similar reactions when they opened their small bubble wrap packs and emptied out the metallic southern-orientated avians!

 

I'm so glad both of the randomly selected gold coins went to people who contribute to this forum - the first I sent I knew straight away was a regular contributor but the second one I only found out this evening as I read this thread!

 

Personally, minting this coin has always been about making people happy rather than making money. Sure, I wanted to at least break even financially as minting a run of 250 coins costs a LOT of cash (especially with the currency rate from £ to $ being so bad at the moment) but for me, even before the E.P. design became a coin and was my Geocaching avitar, many people liked the little guy and told me so.

 

So... there are more coin surprises already planned. One guerrilla action was activated last night - an "unplanned escape" of a gold coin on ebay (not one of the 10 low numbered coins mentioned earlier) with a buy now price *less* than the £6.50 the original copper and antique bronze went for. Naturally this was snapped up very quickly by a lucky buyer! Another "strange" ebay auction may happen soon if my spies in the gold nest are to be believed (though I don't quite know what nature yet, and of course as a responsible penguin I'll try to stop it from happening - I also suspect the Goldies are always one step ahead of me though, intelligent little chaps :) )

 

I've also decided that one of the last remaining Antique Bronze coins for sale through the original batch will have a similarly coloured but rather more shiny unplanned and free companion ;)

 

For future reference:

 

1: Another batch of 100 E.P. Coins with slightly different livery will be available soon and are already paid for and in the ordering process. At the moment I think, the last of the Eclectic Penguin coins to be minted.

 

2. Along with this batch, some Eclectic Penguin pin badges are also ordered. They're not as collectible as coins of course and not as valuable - but they'll be in the original bronze colour that so many people liked. They'll be available on my E.P. shop in due course.

 

3. My second personal coin is almost ready for production!! It would probably be paid for and in production in the next day or so were it not for the fact that the mint is having a public holiday next week. I'll announce the coin formally as soon as I'm happy - let's just say it's another bird coin and you'll be puffin' your way to the next cache to drop him off if you get one.... :) I think he's adorable, if not a bit melancholic - I hope you'll like him too!

GeoKs

+GeoKs

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Copper edition has now officially sold out - only 3 weeks after going on sale - I was expecting them to shift quickly but not this quick. I was expecting a couple of months wait before a return on my investment - not 2 weeks!

 

There is a small number held back for coins lost in the post and these may be available in future for auction on ebay or swaps. No more of this exact design will be minted - but keep your eyes posted as there will be more Eclectic Penguins available soon of a different variety.

 

Antique bronze is not far behind with only 9 left.

 

Congratulations on the success of your coin. We sent an email a few weeks back re: a possible swap, so please keep us in mind if you end up with a couple left over.

opalsns

+opalsns

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oh Baby,

I can't wait, Woooo Hoooo

Bubba's mom is a puffin freak, he carved her a walking stickwith one and I painted it.

We will ( hopefully) be gettig a couple.

Opalsns

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