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AXIAL INTERVALS


Vanelle

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Every year, the days that mark time for me the most poignantly occur during the solstices and equinoxes. The fall equinox often marks the time for me when it’s time to put the outdoor things away, organize my caching supplies and settle in for a long, dark winter. The winter solstice is both the hardest, and contains the most hope. The darkest day of the year, it marks the turning point for future light gained in minutes each day. For me, this means the promise of spring and time outdoors again. The spring equinox is always a small celebration for me, including putting out a special cache on that day each year to officially honor the opening of my caching season. The summer solstice is beautiful and bright, has me considering long caching days, and feeling just a touch sad that we’ve reached the pinnacle and will start the downhill slide into darkness again (albeit only a few minutes each day). I live where it is very cold and dark, and one deeply snowy night this winter, started sketching ideas for coins which celebrate the resonance of these important times of year.

 

Here are some images out of my sketchbook.

 

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I like coins that have nature themes, and this one seemed to personally fit well with the passing seasons, and my caching rhythms. So, I picked up the design about a month later, developing some official art, and sent it off. I was quite happy when one of the coin stores was kind enough to accept it for production. Here is an image of my final artwork:

 

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And, I am also a geek, so a little science adds to the appeal for me. The changing seasons are not related to our distance from the sun (as my little one, Cricket likes to tell me), but are instead related to the tilt of our earth’s axis.

 

An equinox occurs twice a year, when the Earth's axis is tilted neither away from nor towards the Sun, when the center of the Sun is in the same plane as the Earth's equator. The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). An equinox happens each year at two specific moments in time (rather than two whole days), when there is a location on the Earth's equator where the center of the Sun can be observed to be directly, vertically overhead, occurring around March 20/21 and September 22/23 each year. On a day of the equinox, the center of the Sun spends a roughly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on the Earth, night and day being of roughly the same length.

 

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's visual position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the visual movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction.

 

The Earth's seasons are caused by the rotation axis of the Earth not being perpendicular to its orbital plane. The Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of approximately 23.44° from the orbital plane; this tilt is called the axial tilt. The axis remains tilted in the same direction towards the stars throughout a year and this means that when a hemisphere (a northern or southern half of the earth) is pointing away from the Sun at one point in the orbit then half an orbit later (half a year later) this hemisphere will be pointing towards the Sun. This effect is the main cause of the seasons. Whichever hemisphere is currently tilted toward the Sun experiences more hours of sunlight each day, and the sunlight at midday also strikes the ground at an angle nearer the vertical and thus delivers more energy per unit surface area.

 

:):);):P:D:D:D

 

Okay, sorry for geeking out. Here’s some info about the actual coins!

 

Size = 1”

Thickness = 2.5mm

Trackable = Yes, with code along the coin rim

Unique Icon = Yes, one for each! 3f6aca4c-6bab-44f8-b1c6-2e8b2a355a0b.jpg

Materials = Front: shiny metals and hard enamels / Back: two levels, antique metals and hard enamels.

Available = Late May/Early June

Versions = Regular Edition will be available at the Geocoin Store, and I'll have an Artist Edition available for trade.

 

 

And finally, some images of the sample coins.

They're photos from the mint, so not the best quality.

Hope you like them.

 

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Thanks for the comments, I sincerely appreciate them.

 

ngrrfan: my version of the coins will be available for trade. I do not yet know what the cost for the regular edition coins in the store will be. I should know in a couple of weeks.

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Love 'em! What a great job you did -- congratulations!

 

Gatoulis -- "no job till now" -- does that mean, I hope, that you've been jobless but now actually have a job?

 

Oh...I wish I had a job my friend! this year they didn't take me and many others.... and since things are bad here it is difficult to find somewhere to go and work... :)

I wanted so much to work in the palace or the museum! My dream was to become an archeologist, but this dream didn;t came true! Guarding ancients was the closest in what I liked... beeing close to the things I love...

 

I also tried my chances as a worker in an excavation but in that they took the onces they take all the time and have experiance!

 

The majority of the jobs here are seasonal! So...a big number of Rhodians are working from May until October or November! Last year I was working only for hours in a friend so I can have my medical inncouranse nad some pocket money but this year things are not the same! With the greek economy close to collapsing...

 

I am still searhing... I might get lucky... who knows! :)

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Just received some photos from the mint of the back of the coin:

 

Ok, seeing that back, I hope you find a way to make a 5th version that enamels all 4 sections with all the seasonal colors you're using on the other 4 coins, kind of a 'set' coin.

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Tomorrow, they ship! Perhaps a cointest will be in order when they arrive??

 

Oh, a cointest would be fantastic. If you run one, I'll have to find a way to participate, as I really want to get this set.

 

Any more news on price, or when they might show up in the store, for those who can't get them through the cointest? :laughing:

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Is Cache Addict doing these , too?

 

Any more news on price, or when they might show up in the store, for those who can't get them through the cointest? :rolleyes:

 

These will be available at the Geocoin Store once they arrive and get up on the site. Hopefully in the next week or two. I'm not the vendor, so I don't know what the pricing will be for them or exactly when they'll launch. I bet Moop will let us know once they are up for sale, though.

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Ah yes. The Axial Intervals. I did confirm that they made the boat before the Buddha Birthday holiday. Yes, yet another mint holiday :rolleyes:

 

So when will they go up for sale? I've built the listings, and I'm just waiting on photos. We have to take glam shots after they arrive and are checked out. So I'm figuring early next week? But that depends on how nice it is outside this weekend :D As for cost, well. I'm thinking $6.49 each. I didn't read above all the way, but did Vanelle mention we did a four custom icons for this series, not just one? :D

 

TMA

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Ah yes. The Axial Intervals. I did confirm that they made the boat before the Buddha Birthday holiday. Yes, yet another mint holiday :drama:

 

So when will they go up for sale? I've built the listings, and I'm just waiting on photos. We have to take glam shots after they arrive and are checked out. So I'm figuring early next week? But that depends on how nice it is outside this weekend :laughing: As for cost, well. I'm thinking $6.49 each. I didn't read above all the way, but did Vanelle mention we did a four custom icons for this series, not just one? :lol:

 

TMA

 

So now they're up for sale. Direct purchase links in each name.

 

SPRING

 

product1.jpg

 

product2.jpg

 

SUMMER

 

product1.jpg

 

product2.jpg

 

FALL

 

product1.jpg

 

product2.jpg

 

WINTER

 

product1.jpg

 

product2.jpg

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I really like the way these little coins turned out. I also am a big fan of caching. So, here's a combo for you -- It's time for a COINTEST! I am going to give away a some artist edition Axial Intervals.

 

To enter, place a cache that celebrates the summer solstice and goes live on June 21. Post a link to your cache site here as your entry. There will be four winners - which will be announced on Saturday, June 24. I will send one artist edition coin from the axial intervals set as a prize.

 

Here are images of the AE coins. The sun glows on the winter version, they all have glitter fill on the back, and the front colors are slightly different than the regular edition.

 

Be creative and have fun!!

 

Here's some images of what you're playing for:

 

AXIAL INTERVALS: WINTER

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AXIAL INTERVALS: SPRING

438f7941-08e2-4e6d-9025-088622dc0f25.jpg

 

AXIAL INTERVALS: SUMMER

5209ce2a-ba22-4873-84cd-9aa3fc31cf72.jpg

 

AXIAL INTERVALS: FALL

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Edited by Vanelle
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I just bought the set, which are Geocoins #2-5 for me (first is the Big Blue Switch, because it has the date of my first cache on it!). They were so awesomely beautiful I couldn't say no. Great artwork, great theme, great set, GREAT PRICE. Thank you for helping me get healthily on my way towards a new addiction!

 

I have to admit though, I like the standard versions better than the AEs. :angry: I might still try to enter the cointest though. ;)

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Those are even more beautiful in the pictures than they were in the drawings. I really wish I could afford a set, but I can't buy any more coins for awhile or I won't have money for food. Sigh. I do have everything I need to set a few caches so I might have to set one for your cointest. Are you choosing your favorites? Or just random posts? Not that I'd do a LPC or a film can hanging in a tree, either way. But I might put a lot more work into it if I knew I didn't have a chance of loosing to something like that. OK I'm off to get started on my idea.

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Are you choosing your favorites? Or just random posts? Not that I'd do a LPC or a film can hanging in a tree, either way. But I might put a lot more work into it if I knew I didn't have a chance of loosing to something like that. OK I'm off to get started on my idea.

 

Hmnnn... I hadn't thought this part through. Losing to a LP hide does not seem to be something that would be fun. How about this? I'll ask my family to each put their top five hides in a hat, and I'll draw out four to be winners.

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I'll throw my hat in the cointest ring. I have already purchased a set of these coins and they are most excellent! Perhaps I will release the summer coin in my new cache :D But do I want to part with it? :blink:

 

I'll post again when my cache is live. Thanks for the fun cointest.

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Is there a way to make sure that the cache goes live on the 21st? I mean if I submit my cache tomorrow... How do I make sure that the cache goes live on the 21st and not the 22nd?

 

I usually have no trouble if I submit my cache early with a note to the reviewer asking them to publish it on a certain date. The reviewers are so often helpful and obliging.

 

That said, I really won't be a stickler about the exact date if anyone runs into trouble. Post your link to your Solstice Cache here, and it will qualify.

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