Making a double sided aluminum coin.

[democratz.org]

Can someone point me to a place where they make an aluminum geocoin where instead of engraving by a die or laser burning of an image and text on a coin

 

they can place an image on a coin by photo sublimation on both sides of a 1.5" aluminum coin?

 

I cannot find a place where they create a double sided geocoin. I have found they do single sided but not double sided.

 

Thank you.

Edited January 23, 2009 by democratz.org

[+Jackalgirl]

Hi!

 

Can someone point me to a place where they make an aluminum geocoin where instead of engraving by a die or laser burning of an image and text on a coin

 

I'm sorry, but I could not parse this sentence. Are you asking where you can find someone who can make a coin with printing on it (vice engraving or having to generate a die)?

 

they can place an image on a coin by photo sublimation on both sides of a 1.5" aluminum coin?

 

I cannot find a place where they create a double sided geocoin. I have found they do single sided but not double sided.

 

Thank you.

 

I know that most of the coin vendors should be able to achieve a printed coin for you by one of two means: the first is to actually screen-print your design onto a coin, and the second is to apply a "photo insert" (which is usually a sticker, but a nice quality one, and sometimes it's printed onto aluminum so the colors turn out very nice and bright).

 

I am fairly certain that this can be done on both sides.

 

In my journeys to find people who can make challenge coins, I haven't run across anyone who has explicitly said that they can make aluminum coins. However, I have found companies -- and mints -- who do not advertise that they can cast coins in zinc, and yet they can.

 

So my advice to you is to ask. You might want to head over to www.geocoinclub.com as a matter of fact, and ask the guys there; the reason why I suggest this is that they've just put out a spin-cast coin, and I know that aluminum can be cast -- therefore, the factory they work with might be able to produce an aluminum coin for you.

 

Good luck, and please let us know how it turns out!

[democratz.org]

Hi

 

I don't want an insert placed on a coin. I want to find a company where they do 2 sided photo sublimation on aluminum.

 

What does screen printing on a coin involve? Actually I want a 1.5" aluminum blank printed with the coin design on both sides. Someone told me that photo sublimation apepred the way to do this as using a die cost an arm and a leg.

 

I had some laser engraving done by burning the image on each side but only blue and black anodized aluminum looks good. When they did gold it looked washed out and there appeared no option for silver.

 

So someone told me about photo sublimation but most places only have one sided aluminum blanks and not 2 where the coin appears 1.5" in diameter.

 

So tell me what does screen printing involve and how does a such a coin created by screen printing look and does it cost an arm and a leg?

 

If you look at my avatar you can see my coin as a laser produced coin. I want to make silver colored and gold color coins now.

 

 

Hi!

 

Can someone point me to a place where they make an aluminum geocoin where instead of engraving by a die or laser burning of an image and text on a coin

 

I'm sorry, but I could not parse this sentence. Are you asking where you can find someone who can make a coin with printing on it (vice engraving or having to generate a die)?

 

they can place an image on a coin by photo sublimation on both sides of a 1.5" aluminum coin?

 

I cannot find a place where they create a double sided geocoin. I have found they do single sided but not double sided.

 

Thank you.

 

I know that most of the coin vendors should be able to achieve a printed coin for you by one of two means: the first is to actually screen-print your design onto a coin, and the second is to apply a "photo insert" (which is usually a sticker, but a nice quality one, and sometimes it's printed onto aluminum so the colors turn out very nice and bright).

 

I am fairly certain that this can be done on both sides.

 

In my journeys to find people who can make challenge coins, I haven't run across anyone who has explicitly said that they can make aluminum coins. However, I have found companies -- and mints -- who do not advertise that they can cast coins in zinc, and yet they can.

 

So my advice to you is to ask. You might want to head over to www.geocoinclub.com as a matter of fact, and ask the guys there; the reason why I suggest this is that they've just put out a spin-cast coin, and I know that aluminum can be cast -- therefore, the factory they work with might be able to produce an aluminum coin for you.

 

Good luck, and please let us know how it turns out!

[+Jackalgirl]

Howdy!

 

Hi

 

I don't want an insert placed on a coin. I want to find a company where they do 2 sided photo sublimation on aluminum.

 

What does screen printing on a coin involve? Actually I want a 1.5" aluminum blank printed with the coin design on both sides. Someone told me that photo sublimation apepred the way to do this as using a die cost an arm and a leg.

 

I had some laser engraving done by burning the image on each side but only blue and black anodized aluminum looks good. When they did gold it looked washed out and there appeared no option for silver.

 

So someone told me about photo sublimation but most places only have one sided aluminum blanks and not 2 where the coin appears 1.5" in diameter.

 

So tell me what does screen printing involve and how does a such a coin created by screen printing look and does it cost an arm and a leg?

 

If you look at my avatar you can see my coin as a laser produced coin. I want to make silver colored and gold color coins now.

 

 

As I said, I don't know of any specific companies that do a heat-transfer process with aluminum (if I'm understanding the dye-sublimation process correctly), so I am advising you to ask around (that is, ask the geocoin companies directly). I'd also recommend asking at www.coinsforanything.com -- they've never done me wrong.

 

As for screen printing, you can read more about the process here. It's generally a four-color process and can produce some very high-fidelity stuff. I am not sure that it would handle subtle color shading very well (since it's a four-color process, meaning that one color is laid down at a time), but the company should be able to provide you some samples (or might have online pictures) so that you can see how it turns out. If you have a particularly "graphic" look to your photo, it could turn out very nicely.

 

Don't pooh-pooh the sticker, btw. If you take a look at CoinsForAnything's sample page, you'll see a number of coins there that use the process and that look very sharp. I'm not trying to shill for CFA, btw, but I often direct people there to take a look at their samples since they have a very large library of images and the display system is good.

 

As for cost -- again, I can't really say. I don't know what "arm and a leg" means to you, and the prices vary from company to company. So again, ask around. Some companies have all of their prices listed on their site (such as CoinsForAnything) so you can actually do a quick "in the ballpark" estimate of how much a screen-printed coin will cost. If you're doing screen printing on a blank, there will probably be no die fee -- however, the company might charge you to polish the blank to accept your printing, so you'll need to ask if there's a charge for that.

 

Let us know what the companies say. I'm actually quite interested in this sublimation process. I wonder if the problem with doing it on two sides of a coin occurs because after you've applied one image, you then have to heat up the coin to apply the other? If that's the case, I wonder if heating up the coin again will damage or destroy the first image?

 

If that's a problem, try asking about having a coin that's got a space for a smaller coin inset into it. Have one side's image sublimated onto the smaller coin, then inset into the larger coin. This will probably cost you extra, but it might achieve what you want. If my description isn't clear, check out The Geocoin Club's webstore and take a look at their "XXXX" Transporter (I don't think I can mention the first part here). The central part of that coin is held in by a magnet, which you may or may not wish to do with your coin.

[democratz.org]

Hi

 

It looks at first inspection that screen printing will not do what I want. For the obverse of the coin I have text and an image of a person embossed in a gold color in the png file and for the reverse side I have text and a building again embossed in a gold color. 4 color printing probably allows you to do very simple work.

 

I also have a silver color version of this coin as well.

 

Arm and a leg means that you have to pay for a die for 2 sides which can cost 500 bux.

 

This sublimation printing will blow the doors off the mints that require you to pay 500 or 600 bux for dies for 2 sides. You will get good images on both sides and yes it appears flat on the metal but it should look good. Unfortunately I only found places that have sublimation treatment for printing on one side.

[+Jackalgirl]

Hi

 

It looks at first inspection that screen printing will not do what I want. For the obverse of the coin I have text and an image of a person embossed in a gold color in the png file and for the reverse side I have text and a building again embossed in a gold color. 4 color printing probably allows you to do very simple work.

 

I also have a silver color version of this coin as well.

 

Arm and a leg means that you have to pay for a die for 2 sides which can cost 500 bux.

 

This sublimation printing will blow the doors off the mints that require you to pay 500 or 600 bux for dies for 2 sides. You will get good images on both sides and yes it appears flat on the metal but it should look good. Unfortunately I only found places that have sublimation treatment for printing on one side.

 

You can actually get some very detailed work via the four-process color...on the other hand, I think you'll be hampered by the relatively small scale.

 

You shouldn't have to pay $500 in die fees. Most coin companies will charge you in the neighborhood of $100 ($99-120 is the norm that I've seen). It depends, of course, on whether you're going with die struck or die cast, and whether the art is 3D or not (though some companies charge you a flat rate for each die).

 

If a mint wants $500-600 for a set of dies for one coin -- and if you're not doing anything terribly fancy like setting up a suncatcher (which even then I can't imagine would cost $600, tho maybe one of the vendors will chime in and correct me) -- I'd recommend walking away from that mint or company and never doing business with them again. That is WAY, WAY too much!

 

As for the one-sided printing...have you asked the companies why they only do one side? Is it related to the heat process?

 

If that's the case then again, one option would be to have a smaller coin inset into a larger one. That is, the company will strike or ream a declevity into the larger coins, print on its back, print on the smaller coin, then inset that coin into the declevity (and they can glue it in or, if you want it to be removeable, use magnets). Take a look at the .... Transporter or the Coin Odyssey Game. These are magnetic, but you still get the idea (and your inset coin would be much larger).

 

Note that the one sells for $9 and the other for $11. Knowing that this company is in the business of making a profit, that tells you that the cost-per-piece for these items is less than that per piece -- probably at least 30% less (maybe even more).

 

And these are coins that use multiple dies (in this case, three dies: two for the outer coin and one for the inner).

 

I still encourage you to pursue the sublimation process for your coins -- not because they will necessarily be cheaper, but because it sounds really interesting. You could get some interesting effects, I'm thinking. I'd love to see some examples; do you have any photos you could post?

[democratz.org]

Ok imagine this image imprinted using sublimation printing on the front of the coin. I have a comparable silver version of this image.

 

[OldManMike]

Can someone point me to a place where they make an aluminum geocoin where instead of engraving by a die or laser burning of an image and text on a coin

 

they can place an image on a coin by photo sublimation on both sides of a 1.5" aluminum coin?

 

I cannot find a place where they create a double sided geocoin. I have found they do single sided but not double sided.

 

Thank you.

 

I ran across this today while searching on ways to create my own "coinage". it uses resigns and and chemicals to create a casting negative for spin/sand casting.

 

http://www.granthams.com/Pattern/

 

hope it helps,

OldManMike

[+Eartha]

FYI, the OP has not been active on this site since Feb of 2009. I'm not so sure they'll see your post.

When they were active, they wanted to sell a Barack Obama coin, and it wasn't a geocoin. I think they left soon after finding out it couldn't be sold here.

[democratz.org]

Actually, I got email stating that a reply had appeared to this thread.

 

I looked at the web site and I don't see myself doing such work. I don't appear talented enough to use that kit.

 

Actually in the past year I found a place that creates double sided coins by etching images and text on gold color anodized aluminum discs of 1.5" diameter with a laser.

 

Not only have they created an Obama Coin from my designs, but a George Washington Coin, a JFK coin, and an FDR coin, and a Teddy Roosevelt coin and an Edward Kennedy Memorial coin. I will soon create an Abraham Lincoln coin.

 

I did not come back here because of the hostility towards creators of coins that don't have that magic serial number. I consider my coins Geocoins. Just because it doesn't have a serial number makes it no less useful to use in the hobby. Nothing can stop a person from buying it and have the precious serial number placed on the coin and register it with Groundspeak and let them pay the $1 per coin instead of making me pay $1 per coin.

 

I suspect my account will get trashed after making this post. Have a good day.

 

So if I had a serial number I would have the freedom of speech to sell it here, but since I don't I remain suppressed.

[+teamhaynes]

 

So if I had a serial number I would have the freedom of speech to sell it here, but since I don't I remain suppressed.

 

[democratz.org]

 

So if I had a serial number I would have the freedom of speech to sell it here, but since I don't I remain suppressed.

 

I note the continued hostility to people who create coins but don't have that magic serial number on them.

[+teamhaynes]

 

So if I had a serial number I would have the freedom of speech to sell it here, but since I don't I remain suppressed.

 

I note the continued hostility to people who create coins but don't have that magic serial number on them.

 

Its not hostility, I am just amused that you use the phrase "freedom of speech" to protest your disapproval of groundspeaks policy.

 

Groundspeak has the ability to set their own policies regarding geocoins and serial numbers, and if you disagree that's your opinion, however not being able to sell your coins here has nothing to do with free speech.

 

Your argument of free speech is like saying apple has to sell pcs in their stores, its not free speech its business.

 

I am truly amazed how many people pull the free speech argument when they don't get their way..

[+Eartha]

It's not hostility. It's forum guidelines. Non-trackable geocoins may not be sold in these forums. They may be traded here, but not sold. Your coins are not geocoins, they are commemorative coins, and that's not what these geocoin forums are about. Your profile doesn't show that you are a geocacher, and your coins have nothing to do with geocaching. No hostility intended. The people who come in here are interested in the coins that represent their hobby of geocaching, not just any coin. This is a privately owned website so the "freedom of speech" argument does not apply, it's not a publicly owned entity, and they make the rules, and I, as a forum moderator, see to it that these rules are followed. No one has been hostile towards you, it's just that you are selling something that doesn't apply to this hobby. Perhaps there are other coin websites that do apply.