Master of Coin Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Back in 2003 when we started making the GoT coins, the Robert Baratheon star was the very first project. I had some massive 1/4 inch thick 16 gram copper blanks that were left over from an industrial punching operation and used them for the stars. They were really clunky and thick but had a cool feel to them. That was back when only the first and second books of the series were in print and sales were slow. I advertised with a full page ad in the first Hedge Knight comic... and sold one coin that month. So they lasted for quite a few years but eventually started running low. When the time came to make more I had no more of that blank, and no tooling to even make them, so I substituted a somewhat thinner 9 gram copper blank, which was plenty thick to strike up. Similar situation with the silver pieces. The earliest stag types were overstruck on pre-1964 US dimes! That's why the specs show a 2.5 gram 90% silver blank... that's what dimes are. That was fine in the early days... we were doing something totally new and blowing people's minds with it, and nobody really cared about the exact weight of the coins. But more recently, as more and more fans became more interested in the fine details of George's world we made the executive decision to switch to higher grade handmade blanks of pure silver, and to increase the weight to a full 3.1 grams, so as to peg the stag at 1/10 troy ounce. The entire process has been an evolutionary growth... from a rather casual fan-art project to something more like a small manufacturing business. There have been many changes over the years. That's why I am putting together a few of these master sets while I still have a few of the old types left. Thanks for giving me the chance to elucidate a little! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 I'd like to announce that we are now a 3-man shop! Don has been with us a year now, and I have just hired my son Woody as a full time employee, so that it has now become a family business. Woody has spent quite a few years working in small manufacturing plants around the country making automotive or aircraft parts and doing security printing. He brings a modern industrial expertise to my artistic side. Aside from continuing projects based on George R.R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, new efforts for this year will include fantasy coins for the fictional worlds of Robert Jordan, Leland Modesitt, Patrick Rothfuss, and Peter V. Brett, with several more new ones in the discussion phase. By the way, if you stopped by our booth at Worldcon you've seen our official Shire Post tee-shirt... entitled ME AND MY DRAGON it is a young boy of three holding a full size greatsword and holding the leash of a dragon at least ten times his size. The model for the boy was my son Woody at age three! He's now in his thirties! The pen-and-ink art was done for me by James Yale. Be well, have fun, and Don't Leave the Path! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 The official mintage list at the beginning of this post has been revised again to reflect the mintages of Fevruary 2014, which include the first of the Faceless Man 9th pressings using new dies (sporting THREE buttons below the cowl) including a pure SILVER version for the first time! Also, we are listing a new wearable version... the coin in a holder with neck-chain. http://www.ebay.com/itm/131134278940Have fun!Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 Game of Throne Gaming Coins! We have often received requests from fans to do some coins that are small enough and inexpensive enough to use in gaming. Our antique presses are too slow to do large numbers cheaply, and we refused to cheapen the material by going to zinc or aluminum the way many have done, but we have finally found a larger mint here in the US that could do the striking for us using high quality cartridge brass. There are 20 identical pieces in each of the house sets, and we've also made some collector-sets available with one of each house. Here are the links: 20pc Greyjoy http://www.ebay.com/itm/14128990414720pc Targaryen http://www.ebay.com/itm/13119224396920pc Martell http://www.ebay.com/itm/14128991721820pc Lannister http://www.ebay.com/itm/13119223501020pc Baratheon http://www.ebay.com/itm/14128991012120pc Stark http://www.ebay.com/itm/1412898815806pc, 6 houses http://www.ebay.com/itm/141289867894 Game on! Tom Maringer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tyrion I Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Lovely. I consider getting the Lannister ones. .oO(I feel like being such a nerd...) EDith: dropped you a PM. With a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 If you get them all we throw in printed cloth bags for them. And when you order, please mention this forum and your forum name and we'll throw in a little something extra. We like to have fun with this. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tyrion I Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Did it. For Lannister coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Interesting... so far the Lannister coins are way out in the lead. I had thought it would be the Starks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tyrion I Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 "A Lannister always pays his debts." :lmao: Perhaps that's why. /thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 ... but Greyjoy is catching up.... perhaps it's the Kraken.There's now a page on the website for them:http://www.shirepost.com/wp/gaming-coins/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonBlackfyre Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 I just got my two coins today. An Faceless man coin from the 8th pressing, as well as the Martell copper star. I just wanted to say that I loved both the coins, and will most likely purchase the three golden dragon set. I am a little curious on what you are working on currently, unless you can't speak of such things. Also, I'm not a big fan of House Tyrell, but I'm surprised you guys don't have a coin for them. Would go great for the gaming pieces, because you would have 7 coins for 7 kingdoms. Thanks again, and I hope to be browsing your beautiful coins soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tyrion I Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 I also want to say thank you, Tom. I received my pennies sometime ago - and I think I'm gonna use them soon. There's a group of people who'd like to play the rpg by Green Ronin - and I'm trying to be a part of that group. :cheers: Welcome, CrimsonBlackfyre, to the boards! :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 I just got my two coins today. An Faceless man coin from the 8th pressing, as well as the Martell copper star. I just wanted to say that I loved both the coins, and will most likely purchase the three golden dragon set. I am a little curious on what you are working on currently, unless you can't speak of such things. Also, I'm not a big fan of House Tyrell, but I'm surprised you guys don't have a coin for them. Would go great for the gaming pieces, because you would have 7 coins for 7 kingdoms. Thanks again, and I hope to be browsing your beautiful coins soon! Hi Crimson Blackfyre: Thanks for your note! Glad you liked the coins! There has been a price reduction on the Golden Dragon set, so your timing is good there. We've given thought to Tyrell, and may add it to the 1/2 penny set next time we get around to restriking. The six houses were chosen based on the LCG game needs. The next coin we're working on (can't show images yet) will be the Highgarden "Hand" coin that will be a bit larger than a quarter and will also be a gaming coin, meaning that we'll crank the old Waterbury-Farrel up and make enough of them to get the cost down into the range where gamers can buy them by the bag to use as "gold" in the game. The "hand" coin is mentioned a couple of times in the text... a gold coin from an extinct house that is still occasionally seen, about half the weight of a dragon. Ours will be brass of course. We're always entertaining ideas for what should be next... we have a HUGE list of possibilities,. from which we try to winnow down to a short list of candidates. Suggestions are always welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the maid of woodlynne Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 That Highgarden "hand" coin is the one found in the gaoler's cell after Tyrion's escape, right? I'd love to see that! I have a faceless man coin and a Joff Dragon (it was a gift). I love them both. The weight of the golden dragon is perfect. Really nice work. Will you guys be at WorldCon again this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Glad you're enjpying the coins! I'm afraid we're not going to make Worldcon this year, though definitely going to Spokane in '15. We'll be at Gencon in a couple of months, and still looking at what other cons we might attend. It's so hard to get away to those things.... and it takes weeks to recover from one! Yes I'm hoping the "hand" will be a fun project. We are tweaking the designs right now. Have fun! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhaegar95 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 This is my first post on this forum so hello everyone! Recently received a few coins, the 3 Dragon Coins and the Iron Coin of the Faceless Man (8th pressing). I love them, the detail is great, and i can't wait to expand my collection! I only wish i knew about your work earlier Tom, as i believe some of your coins are long sold out. Im trying to acquire whatever sold out ones i can at the moment before buying any in stock ones. Tom, or anyone for this matter, would you have any leads in regards to your sold out coins such as the 'Eddard Stark half-stag pfennig' and the 'Torrhen Stark Half Penny'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the maid of woodlynne Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Rhaegar95 - welcome to the board! Check eBay for those coins - I could swear I saw a Winterfell groat amongst Tom's recent listings. Speaking of which...I just placed my order for the Highgarden Hand! :D It looks fantastic. And Tom I left you a note with the order just to say hi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhaegar95 Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Rhaegar95 - welcome to the board! Check eBay for those coins - I could swear I saw a Winterfell groat amongst Tom's recent listings.Speaking of which...I just placed my order for the Highgarden Hand! :D It looks fantastic. And Tom I left you a note with the order just to say hi.Thank you! :) I checked, and didn't find it unfortunately. I'll keep looking and hope to get lucky one day lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Coin Posted June 28, 2014 Author Share Posted June 28, 2014 Actually, just email me. We delist things when they can no longer be made or if the stock gets below a certain point, but we do still have a few of those things around and we can fix you up... it's just not on the online store or eBay etc. By the way, the Eddard half-stag is not the same as the half-groat. The half-stag was done on the original hand-engraved dies by Greg-Franck-Weiby. He did them in an archaic 11th century style and insisted that we use an actual pennyweight (1/20 troy ounce= 1.6 gram) silver blank, because that is what the silver coinage of those days would be. The original reverse side had a wolf-rampant as the Stark sigil. George preferred the wolf's head. The very thin half-stags were hard to strike-up because they're almost foil-thin... less than 0.020". Eventually we had a catastrophic brockage incident that overpressured the dies and collapsed them. By that time the engraver, Greg, had passed away. So we used a 17th century die-cloning technique to make a new head-die, and then had the reverse die completely re-made from scratch by Joe Paonessa, with the wolf's head on it. With the new dies I decided to make it a full stag in weight (two pennyweight = 1/10 troy ounce = 3.2 gram) of .999 fine silver. We also use the same dies with a larger 6 gram copper blank to make the half-groat. There are even a few earlier Faceless Man pressings and other oddball stuff... like the original 2003 Robert Baratheon, when it weighed a chunky 16 grams (they've been 9 grams lately). Have fun! You can contact me through the website. And as always, if you place an order, please DO MENTION this forum and your screen name, and we'll add a little something extra. Have fun! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the maid of woodlynne Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 My Highgarden Hand arrived yesterday! It's lovely! Really nice work, as always. Tom, please thank Woody for packing my order. The new packaging is fantastic! I love love love the wax seal. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.