Learning Center

The approved proof from design is the blueprint the shop works from. A steel die, the mold, is cut from that artwork. Round coins are die struck: blanks are punched from sheet metal and the die stamps the design into each blank under pressure. Custom shapes and 3D coins are die cast: molten zinc alloy is poured into the mold, which fills fine contours better than striking.

The edge is cut or finished, and then the coin is plated. If the design has color, enamel is filled into the recessed areas and cured. After that the coin is polished and inspected, then packed. The process is the same whether the work happens overseas or in the United States.

Round coins are struck from brass. Custom shapes and high-relief 3D coins are cast in a zinc alloy. Copper and iron are also used, and aluminum is too, depending on the look and the budget. Every coin gets a plating layer of gold, silver, copper, black nickel, black metal, or an antique version of those, and that plating is the color of the finished metal.

American-made coins use a thicker sheet than coins made overseas, which gives them more weight in the hand. A coin with a built-in bottle opener needs a base metal that stands up to repeated use. Some of the metals that allow elaborate 3D detail and custom shapes wear faster against bottle caps, so the rep helps pick the metal for that job.

The mold is a steel die cut from the approved artwork, one per side that carries a design. Cutting it is the one-time setup of a coin order, so the mold fee is paid on the first order of a design and not on reorders. The fee scales with the size of the coin and with whether one or both sides are struck.

Sandblasted or stippled fields are cut into the mold at no extra charge. Changing that texture later means a new mold, because a factory does not rework an existing mold's texture. We keep the mold on file for 3 years from the most recent order, and every reorder in that window restarts the 3 years. You can reuse your own mold for a new coin of the same size and shape, such as a new back on an existing front, and no one can use another customer's mold.

Color goes into the recesses the die created, so raised metal lines separate the colors. Soft enamel is the standard, filled and cured so it sits slightly below the raised metal. Hard enamel, called cloisonné, is an upgrade that is polished flush after firing so the surface is glassy.

Other fill options are translucent enamel, glitter fill, and glow-in-the-dark enamel. An epoxy dome coats a whole side in clear, and offset or UV printing lays a printed image for gradients and detail too fine for enamel. Enamel is priced by the side, regardless of how many colors appear in the design. A coin ordered with no color, which the price tables call die struck, takes its contrast from the plating alone, usually an antique finish. United States color coins use a layered print bonded to pre-made 1.75 inch blanks in antique gold or antique silver that mimics enamel's raised and recessed look and can carry gradients and fine images.

A 3D coin starts with a sculpt, and an artist models that relief from the approved proof so faces, animals, mascots, buildings, and vehicles have real depth and contour. That sculpt becomes the 3D mold, a paid upgrade charged per side, and 3D coins are cast in zinc alloy rather than struck because casting fills the contours.

3D relief is finished as plated metal, usually with an antique plating so the high and low areas catch light and shadow, and enamel color is kept to the flat areas of the design. One 3D side can pair with a flat, color-filled side, and a common build puts the 3D image on the front and the color on the back. 3D adds production time, and the sales rep confirms the timeline before the proof is approved.

Production time is counted from proof approval. Time spent on the first emails and on revisions before that approval is outside the production window. Standard production for coins is 3-4 weeks, often sooner, plus about 2 business days in transit to a United States address. Specialty upgrades add production time, and those upgrades include 3D sculpting, dual or specialty plating, special enamels, UV printing, moving parts such as spinners, and custom presentation packaging.

American-made die struck coins ship in 7-10 days, and those with color in as little as 3-5 days. Rush options exist for an event or ceremony date. Give the rep the deadline up front, because the rep confirms the turnaround before the proof is approved on overseas orders and on American-made coins.