A Day in the Spotlight
Quite often, our blogs are created either around a single design element that multiple coins share, or they’re about one customer who’s created a unique and interesting challenge coin program. But every so often, we get an order in that’s so impressive we think it would be a mistake not to share it with you.
Maybe they aren’t pushing the boundaries of what’s typical in the custom coin design world, but they do showcase what is possible when the different options we offer are utilized to their best effect. These coins are our Signature Spotlights.
The Antique Copper Jerome Police Department Challenge Coin
The combination of antique copper and antique gold gives this coin a rich, earthy appearance. The gold star design sits in a bed of sandblasted copper metal that has a textured feel and rugged appearance. Recessed sandblasting creates contrast in a design and helps add emphasis to the raised portions of a coin face. In this case, the gold star and text curving around the bottom rim of the design (In Valor There Is Hope) stand out beautifully against the sandblasted bed of copper.
Blue colorfill is added to the text of the Jerome Police Department badge, and the seal at the center of the star shows just how accurate our custom coin molds are, even for the smallest designs. Copper plating is one of the most underutilized plating options we offer, so our team is always excited to work on coins like this one. The Jerome Police Department chose copper plating to honor the history of the town starting as a copper mining camp back in 1876.
The flip side of the coin has no added color, but the natural hews of the bare antique copper and recessed sandblasted copper help define the artwork. When it comes to adding text to a coin, many of our customers dedicate a large amount of space to mottos and personal messages. This design utilizes three different font sizes ranging from average to minuscule. At first glance, it’s easy to see the wording along the edge of the coin that reads “Town of Jerome Police,” but if you zoom in really close, you will see just how precise our minting process is when it comes to creating legible text. The phrases “Respect for the Past” and “Looking to the Future” are barely a half inch long and yet perfectly legible.
Another fun aspect of this design is the custom scalloped edging. Choosing a custom edge is a great way to create a unique aesthetic for your coins and even customize the way it will feel as a person rolls it around in their hand. For this design, our artists thought a scalloped edge would accentuate the rugged appearance of the design and frame the artwork beautifully. All in all, we feel that this coin shows how custom options like dual plating, edging and artwork can work together to capture the spirit of a group and the heritage of a place.
Put Your Custom Coin in the Spotlight
The unique balance of antique copper and gold plating combined with the natural contrast provided by the recessed sandblasting make this coin a perfect candidate for our Signature Spotlights series. While it’s not revolutionary in design or shape, the delicate attention to detail and combination of upgrade options make this coin stand out from the thousands of coins we help create each year.
If you think your custom coin is deserving of a spot in the Signature Spotlights series, let us know in the comments, or shoot us an email. And be sure to continue creating interesting and unique designs that catch our eye.
