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Faceless Man coin gone viral!


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Thanks for the comments! Yes I desperately need to restrike the Dothraki pieces. I delisted them from the store when I got down to just a a half-dozen examples left so as not to get orders for things I don't have! It would only take a couple of days to restrike them, I have the dies and the metal. But at the moment I am completely swamped by orders for the Faceless Man coin! I've never seen anything like this! For the last few days it's been pretty much all I can do just to pack and ship. I hope things will slack off here in a few days. I don't know what's happened... maybe somebody can tell me... has there been a link posted on a popular site or something?

By the way, for those who are getting recent packages... DON'T DISCARD THE NOTE! I have figured out a way to use the coining press to emboss on paper. (I'm sure it's nothing really new, but new for me) and since the FM dies are still mounted on the press I have been using it to emboss an image on my stationery. I'm also using a vintage Rosback perforator to perforate around the image so as to make a little tab that can be torn off and used as a bookmark. A PAPER faceless man!

I imagine this scenario (not from the books, just my imagination here): two men in a smoky bar room sit across a rough barrel from each other. On the barrel stands a candle, a bottle and two half-filled cups. One passes the paper faceless man surreptitiously to the other. The second man looks at it, briefly flipping to examine the back side while keeping it concealed in his palm. He then crumples the paper, lights it from the flame and holds in on his palm as it burns completely up, then rubs the ashes between his fingers. They do not drink. They do not speak. The second man gets up to leave, followed after a couple minutes by the first. Both know exactly what is to be done. --- of course, for the likes of most of us it's just a bookmark :cool4:

I'll keep doing the embossing on the paper until I have to switch out dies to the next project.... not sure when that will be, but not more than a week or two.

You can always contact me directly by PM or email about unlisted items. I'll make some more Dothrakis when I can catch my breath. Anybody local want to be a coiner's apprentice! Making the Dothraki piece dengi and puli is a very... athletic exercise! I do it on a manual screw press and it takes quite an energetic swing to get the metal to spread and form correctly. (not to mention trying to hold the wire centered on the die in the process). A young fellow with broad shoulders and a strong back would be a big help!

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So excited to find you.

I found some 'Valar Morghulis' coins on Etsy, but they

just didn't look right. Your Faceless Man coins are lovely!

I would order right this instant if I weren't moving at the end

of this month. Once we're settled in and I can use the new

address for mail, I will certainly order from you. I must have

a brass Faceless Man coin, drilled and whatnot, to make a necklace.

My precious.

Your Eddard Stark coin is lovely also. And your Winterfell coin...

Hell, they're all gorgeous.

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Hi Tom great to 'meet' another Tolkien fan! My avatar name is taken from Iron Crown Enterprises - The Long Rider, or Uvatha (Nazgul horse lord) - not sure of the Morgul/Elvish translation of it tho. Have you ventured into rings?

Uvatha

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Hi Uvatha: Not making any rings at present... pretty much sticking with flat things that can be made by squishing metal in a press between steel dies. I have made rings in the past, mostly viking style plaited wire rings in copper, silver, or stainless steel, which I would sell at places like Renaissance festivals and my crafts booth at the local farmer's market. (Fayetteville Arkansas) Rings have the problem of sizes. No matter how you try, certain sizes sell out quickly and you always are out of the size that somebody wants. I still have a leftover weird selection of odd sizes. It is virtually guaranteed that whatever size you're looking for, I don't have it. Coins are one-size fits-all! I love that! Have you seen the coin called the "iron crown of Morgoth"? Something of a pun-intended... as it depicts the literal iron crown, yet is itself an iron coin in the denomination of one crown. Also features that nasty old worm Ancalagon. Be well! Tom

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The good news... is that I have found a new source of the special high-purity iron used for the Faceless Man coin, so that I will be able to do a fifth pressing when the time comes. Unfortunately it's a lot more expensive than I was hoping. It is a custom-run product made in Germany and available through only one dealer in high-end blacksmithing tools and materials. Aside from freight there are heavy customs duties and brokerage fees. My wife made me sit down and go over the costs... and the result is that the price of the Faceless Man iron coin will have to rise.

The bad news... Price increase on the iron Faceless Man coin... from $10 to $12 as singles, and from $60 to $72 for rolls of a dozen.

More good news: The drilled brass one will stay the same, at $10. I will be calling those a "replica" of the iron coin of the Faceless Man... and the small VM symbol at the top of the reverse side will be drilled out, effectively "cancelling" the coin. It's not jewelery, it's more like a pawn shop receipt that has been marked PAID. Of course, people might want to display it on a chain, to show they've paid their dues so to speak.

I don't think many people have noticed that tiny little symbol at the top on reverse... it's a V with two tiny "wings" that make the V into an M. This was an inspired idea of the engraver Greg Franck Weiby who speculated that the VM symbol WITHOUT the overlying "D"... would be the "indicia of value"... like the "1" on a dollar coin. But being a Faceless Man coin that symbol is the smallest and least noticeable thing on the entire coin! As long as that symbol is intact the coin has it's symbolic "value" of being able to use it to request (or require) some service. When the symbol is overstamped with a "D" or drilled out, then it has been cancelled... demonstrating that the debt (whatever it may be) has been paid.

Even more good news... engraver Joe Paonessa has been working on dies for an Iron Islands silver stag featuring Balon Greyjoy on obverse and the kraken on reverse. I've seen some trial strikes and it really looks cool! With any luck I may be able to start making those within a couple of weeks. The story on that one is that after Robert's death Balon declares himself independant and has his mint-boys start cranking out silver to support his troops. An army marches on their stomachs... but it's a good idea (at least on the way TO the battle) to pay for what you take.

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More good news: The drilled brass one will stay the same, at $10. I will be calling those a "replica" of the iron coin of the Faceless Man... and the small VM symbol at the top of the reverse side will be drilled out, effectively "cancelling" the coin. It's not jewelery, it's more like a pawn shop receipt that has been marked PAID. Of course, people might want to display it on a chain, to show they've paid their dues so to speak.

I don't think many people have noticed that tiny little symbol at the top on reverse... it's a V with two tiny "wings" that make the V into an M. This was an inspired idea of the engraver Greg Franck Weiby who speculated that the VM symbol WITHOUT the overlying "D"... would be the "indicia of value"... like the "1" on a dollar coin. But being a Faceless Man coin that symbol is the smallest and least noticeable thing on the entire coin! As long as that symbol is intact the coin has it's symbolic "value" of being able to use it to request (or require) some service. When the symbol is overstamped with a "D" or drilled out, then it has been cancelled... demonstrating that the debt (whatever it may be) has been paid.

Guess that means I've still got a whole load of debts to call in.........then again, I did ask for side-to-side drilling to put together a bracelet, so the mini VM symbol couldn't really be drilled out. :D

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey I am interested in buying a drilled Faceless Man Coin for putting on a necklace and wearing, but I can't seem to find the drilled 10$ ones on the gcmcomputers.com page. Should I just order a $12 one from that page and put in the comments that I would like the drilled version for a necklace? The reason I ask is that I don't have a paypal account so using a creditcard directly at that site would be more convenient.

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Hi Dracarya:

That is packed and ships today. Difficult to say how long it will take... I don't control the weather or the postal service (much as I would sometimes like to!) But typical transit time to UK is somewhere between five and ten days. Usually I don't spend a lot of time doing confirmation emails, figuring that the priority is making and shipping things. Should be there soon!

Hi DamonPrinc3: Yes I have not listed the brass ones as I didn't make very many. Ordering the regular one and specifying brass in the "note to seller" would be simplest. I do check those notes.

Working today on copper pennies for Iron Islands! Hope to get those listed soon.

Have fun!

Tom

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Hi Dracarya:

That is packed and ships today. Difficult to say how long it will take... I don't control the weather or the postal service (much as I would sometimes like to!) But typical transit time to UK is somewhere between five and ten days. Usually I don't spend a lot of time doing confirmation emails, figuring that the priority is making and shipping things. Should be there soon!

Beautiful! No worries, thanks for the reply! :cheers:

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