Interest check - Yet another physical crypto-coin

[luke.watson]

Hey guys, first off sorry if this is the wrong place, wasn't sure where was best for this..

So as the title suggests myself and some friends are looking to jump on the physical coin bandwagon.

There are a lot of coins in the market so we wanted to make something unique - and we have a few ideas for that.

What I wanted to see is if anyone had any ideas for designs they'd like to see and any features either on or not on coins that they like or dislike.

The plan is to make the coins as affordable as possible but also have a premium look and feel (should you want to take them out the case)

Any advice from previous coin makers would be really appreciated, I have a lot of hope for this project and it would be great to have something special to share with the Blockchain community !

Luke

[krogothmanhattan]

This is the place bro! Plenty of collectors and makers. You should get the Encyclopedia of physical cryptocoins. So you know what has already been made..new coins are always welcome

If you do make a design, make something original..not a copy and paste of bitcoin symbol.

 Look at the Natty coin...Beautiful..it stands out as one of the best ever made and unique!

 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1619112.0

And Does not have to be loaded either. I would not buy anything loaded anymore. Not with the current price of BTC

Precious metals is good too...especially silver.

[klaaas]

You should get the Encyclopedia of physical cryptocoins. So you know what has already been made..new coins are always welcome

A online resource with crypto coins can be found here  and check www.cryptocoinscollection.com

[AT101ET]

Cryptos - I'd personally say to stick to the big cryptos. There are so many alts around of which everyone is invested differently. The top few have captivated us all though so selling those in physical form would be easier.

Design - If you're looking to hire someone, both Zinodaur and Mr.BAU (not sure if he's still active on here) are very talented although pretty costly.
Bigtimespaghetti is amazing (speaking from experience) and can help you more than you know. I only have good things to say about him...
Alternatively you could opt to go for a forum based design competition which has been pretty successful in the past.

Materials - If you're trying to sell cheap/affordable then go for the non-precious metals route. Zinc/copper/iron are usually safe bets and allow you to keep costs down. Silver is more desirable but more expensive (thus setting a higher premium) so would limit your clientele but a limited run at reasonable prices should still be viable.
If you decide to use non-precious metals then producing them in the Far East is the way forward. If silver is more your thing then NWTM in the US offer bespoke minting services and have been used by many coin manufacturers on here.

Holograms - This is often overlooked. Custom holos are expensive. Sometimes more so than the actual cost of minting the coins. Generic holograms come cheap but don't have the same 'wow' factor as custom made ones. There are many different types (tamper-evident, honeycomb effect patterns etc) and those with or without areas for the address boxes.

Funding -  People like assembled coins but given recent 'events' (Coinographic & Alitin Mint) people are more sceptical. DIY coins are an option but have less of an appeal. The best bet is to sell unfunded assembled coins and that also has you covered with regards to the whole money transfer license issue.

I'm sure there's quite a bit I have forgotten to add so if you need any more advice or have any questions, feel free to send me a PM. I'd be happy to help...

[OneNattyLitecoin]

Yeah man, I was in your shoes about 18 months ago and launched a coin with relative success earlier this year. The first thing that I learned is that there a lot of items to consider: base design, digital design, selection of mint, skill level of the sculptor, hologram complexity and quality trade offs, key management, loading strategy / position, type of metal and size of the piece, number of coins to be struck, and ultimately how you market and deploy the coins.

This doesn’t even consider establishing an attractive price point in which you may if may not break even, which is obviously a crucial piece of the project.

My recommendations to you is to enter coin making in the mindset of a hobby rather than a profit venture as each of the considerations above can have a cost allocated to it.  Don’t be afraid to take a risk, if you love and believe in what you want to create, just do it. Share your initial concepts  with friends, family members, co workers. (Fuck, I went to random people at bars to get feedback from buzzzed strangers). Don’t rush it, it’s really hard to hold back something you’re excited about, but I started my second concept 9 months ago and don’t plan to go into production until January...and haven’t even announced yet because it’s not ready.

Go for it. Do something you’re going to be excited about. The worst thing that happens is you immerse yourself in something meaningful to you.

[ezeminer]

There is a helpful small book/pdf that bigtimespaghetti was selling that helped new people into the minting scene.

Here's a link, prices are very likely outdated. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1089977

[luke.watson]

Hey guys,

Thanks so much for all the advice and support, really great to see so much enthusiasm!

I'll take everything into consideration, I appreciate the comments about not gunning for a profit and doing it for the love. I have a lot of hopes for the project and hopefully can create something unique for the community

As mentioned, security is something I'm very keen on pushing, I want to be very transparent with the way we've created the coins to ensure confidence

I'll have a chat with my friend today and see how we want to proceed

Thanks again guys!