I’d almost forgotten I was able to do at my previous job. The IT group had completed a long, arduous project and to show appreciation they wanted to give something tangible and cool. I was tasked with designing a medallion or challenge coin. It was a lot of work to determine the right size and right material to use.
Initially, the coin was going to be quite large. I believe it was slated to come in at three inches. I comped out a design, printed it at 3″ and it was quickly realized that would be a massive coin. We dropped to about two inches and that felt just about perfect. After a few comps and some back and forth over wording, layout, material type and so on, the final design was settled on.
What’s interesting about a coin is that it is three dimensional. Some areas are raised, some are inset, some are colored, some are varnished. Our vendor communicated well and provided a detailed mockup as to how it would look when pressed. You want to get this sort of thing right as the cost of the coin die is substantial. The good news is that it can be used over and over.
I forgot to mention I was told to inquire as to how much it would cost to have these made of sterling silver. Yeah, I don’t remember the dollar figure but the shock factor was real and we quickly resorted back to the standard coin material.
I was quite pleased with the final result. It’s only after browsing my old photos that I saw a couple of pics I’d taken. I figured I’d share that experience here.
