Is it easy to make silver coins?

[zemario]

It appears to be a thing among cryptocoin enthusiasts, to make custom batches of silver coins.
I also noticed that some online stores selling silver coins, now have coins with the bitcoin symbol. So I am assuming it should not be a a very difficult thing to do.
How easy is it to do? How much does it cost? How is the design made and passed to the actual coin? Is it necessay any special software to design them? Or, are they made from a hand made sample?

[Lethn]

Seems legit to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csJ1wUYk3u8

If you're going to use actual gold and silver and you want to be more accurate you'll of course need some more sophisticated tools, I'm currently learning in bits how to cast and I've moved onto sandcasting and might show you guys some stuff when I get onto using the Wax Moulds which is a lot better than rubber. I don't think it would be hugely difficult to do but you'd probably get some failures as you learned the melting points of whatever metal you were doing and how to carve the moulds properly.

I think there are some proper coin moulds out there that are better designed for this kind of work so I'll have a look around but it may be just a thing of getting good at carving as well.

[zemario]

Seems legit to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csJ1wUYk3u8

If you're going to use actual gold and silver and you want to be more accurate you'll of course need some more sophisticated tools, I'm currently learning in bits how to cast and I've moved onto sandcasting and might show you guys some stuff when I get onto using the Wax Moulds which is a lot better than rubber. I don't think it would be hugely difficult to do but you'd probably get some failures as you learned the melting points of whatever metal you were doing and how to carve the moulds properly.

I think there are some proper coin moulds out there that are better designed for this kind of work so I'll have a look around but it may be just a thing of getting good at carving as well.

Ok, this is how an amateur could do it, for fun. My question was more: how is actually done?

Say I want to offer a custom silver coin to my best customers, where would I turn to?

[Lethn]

I've no idea since so far I've only done handmade stuff, there are probably a number of options you could try like going to a Jeweller that specialises in wax casting or something but the thing you have to bear in mind as well is that is the maths because even if it's casting you'll have to cover the cost of the materials on top of paying the Jeweller or Gold/Silver Smith for their time and then you'd have to make a profit yourself but I'd guess you'd already know that but I'd understand if you maybe want to do it as a promo item or something to reward customers with.

Have you heard of the gem vault here on Bitcointalk? The guy who runs that might be the one to talk to since he does quite a bit of casting, I've seen him showing his carvings, or if you want something more local you could just ask around the Jewellery shops and find out who supplies them.

[zemario]

I've no idea since so far I've only done handmade stuff, there are probably a number of options you could try like going to a Jeweller that specialises in wax casting or something but the thing you have to bear in mind as well is that is the maths because even if it's casting you'll have to cover the cost of the materials on top of paying the Jeweller or Gold/Silver Smith for their time and then you'd have to make a profit yourself but I'd guess you'd already know that but I'd understand if you maybe want to do it as a promo item or something to reward customers with.

Ok, I am grateful for you trying to help and I mean no offense with this, but what is the point of replying with "I have no idea"?
I don't mean to be rude, but giving advice such as "you should ask somebody that knows about this" is not of much help since that is exactly what I am trying to do.

Have you heard of the gem vault here on Bitcointalk? The guy who runs that might be the one to talk to since he does quite a bit of casting, I've seen him showing his carvings, or if you want something more local you could just ask around the Jewellery shops and find out who supplies them.

Well, I opened this topic in the hope of getting insight from people that know about this stuff...?

[Lethn]

lol you shouldn't have made a public topic than and gone and PM'd people you think might know instead, I just tried pointing you in the right direction.

[Sheldor333]

You can design and order them here: http://www.makecoins.com/designcoin.html
If you want from a local source go to a forge (closest one to you) and talk with them, they can make anything you want. I don't know what their minimal quote is though.

[Duane Vick]

A basic silver coin such as what you might see with a Morgan silver dollar is done by using a hydraulic press to stamp a silver blank with a particular design. There are additional features that can be added such as color, ridges, plastic casing, etc. The hydraulic press has to be able to exert many tons of pressure. Using extreme pressure, the silver actually exhibits fluid-like characteristics and flows into the pattern of the die.

Typically, you can expect to pay for the precious metal blanks at around spot prices. Then you often have to pay a die fee to have a die made that will be used in the hydraulic press. Then there is the manufacturing costs which is typically per coin stamped. There are fees for extra features, shipping, packaging, etc.

Here is an example of a company that offers this service:

http://www.sunshinemint.com/CustomMinting.aspx