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ThePetersTrio · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 156 Location: Portland, Oregon

So I've read somewhere that antique bronze plating and antique gold plating look virtually the same. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

BRoKeNW · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 44 Location: Idaho

I am holding one of each metal. While they look similar the Ant. Bronze appears to be more yellow and dull compared to the Ant. Gold.
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ThePetersTrio · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 156 Location: Portland, Oregon

Crowesfeat30 · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 126 Location: Glendale, MO

Antique gold is "darker" than antique bronze. I had samples of my Feather made in ant bronze, ant gold, ant silver, ant nickel, ant copper & black nickel. I chose ant gold over ant bronze because it was more what I was looking for (totally undefinable...) than the bronze. Ant silver is nice but I was surprised at how cool the ant nickel turned out. I was looking for something called "brushed black nickel" but the mint that made the Feather apparently did not do brushed black nickel so I went with the ant nickel which turned out great!

I tend to prefer antiqued finishes to polished finishes and would prefer matte or satin finishes to polished as well. I think it has something to do with the fingerprint issue. They show up much less on antiqued & satin finishes than they do on polished coins. I have some coins I touched only once & have fingerprints on them that I just cannot get to go away! Non-polished finishes help prevent this from happening.

CF30

Theotokos · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 46 Location: Canada

Crowesfeat30 · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 126 Location: Glendale, MO

Well, I thought they would be too but truly they are very different. In this pic:

the top feather is antique nickel, the third is antique silver (the other two, ant copper & ant gold) and the ant nickel is darker, kinda shimmery and the ant silver is almost matte & lighter. Two very different effects - both nice. Smile

CF30

BRoKeNW · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 44 Location: Idaho

E&Cplus3 · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:22 pm Post subject:

Do you bother getting samples made for every coin? If you do, do you get the samples couriered to you to have a look, or just get the mint to email you photos?

I've been working with CinemaBoxers for what seems like forever to get my coin done. Jim suggested Antique Nickel, Antique Gold and Polished Gold for my coin and said that samples were a waste of time and money.
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Theotokos · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 46 Location: Canada

Hmmm..well the samples (6) + shipping for my personal coin were all part of the total price I was originally quoted. If I wanted more samples I could have had payed extra but six was enough. Tom suggested I do get the samples. He saw the coins and said they were nice but he wanted me to see them to make sure. The photos he sends do not always do justice to the coins.

Based on the pictures, I think I would have made a mistake with some metals so I was very glad to get them in hand. Granted it takes longer to get the coins done especially when they are sending stuff here to Canada...but I was very glad I did get them.
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ThePetersTrio · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 156 Location: Portland, Oregon

tadpole379 · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 26 Location: New City, NY

tadpole379 · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 26 Location: New City, NY

Depending on who you work with as your minter, a certain number of samples may be included in the price of minting. You may have to pay an extra shipping fee to have samples in hand instead of just a photo, but that may be worth it depending on your coin, since colors and even metals look very different in a photo than they do in hand.
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ATMouse · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:32 am Post subject:

Oh yeah, get samples...I have been in charge of the Allegany State Park GeoBash coins from the start. I'm working on our fourth one now.

Don't be afraid to ask for different things on your samples, either. I had one sample coin that had glitter on one side and not the other, I had different color enamels on different metals; really, the samples didn't look altogether that great, but I got to see the effect of each choice. So I said "Hmmm...I like this on this coin, but that on the other...And I really DON'T like this at all..."
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fox-and-the-hound · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 241 Location: Northeast PA

Samples, samples, samples!!! It's the only way to know for sure. I've found depending on who makes them and when that the bronze can be lighter or more often darker (and slightly green tinted) compared to gold. Because bronze is a mixed metal, the amounts and purity of the amounts of metals mixed can greatly alter the final color.
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BRoKeNW · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 44 Location: Idaho

I will always get sample coins. It's just nice knowing how you coin is going to look in your hand, before you get the final products.
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maldar · Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 61 Location: Lawton, MI

I say spend the money and get samples. Currently I'm working on my first coin and while I plan on only using 4 different plates, I'm having the mint send 6 different plates to me. This was due to a suggestion on the forums and that I wanted to see what another would look like.

maldar
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ChanceRider · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject:

tadpole379 · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 26 Location: New City, NY

When I look at my coins, I cannot figure out which ones are gold and which ones are bronze. I keep a database and I will write down what they were listed for sale as if I have the info available, but I still cannot tell the difference. Even when I hold coins next to each other that are all supposed to be gold, or antique gold, they don't always look the same as each other. I am not sure why they vary so much?

The same thing goes with "nickel" and "silver". I see coins listed as one or the other, and to me, they all look the same. Chromium and rhodium look pretty much the same to me as nickel and silver.

Maybe it depends on which company minted the coins?
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MustangJoni · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 63

Depending on the coin, I try to get a variety of samples.

I get at least one in Soft enamel, one in Imitation hard enamel.

Then the metals, I get one antique, one shiny, and a satin finish.

Then I make sure that I get those finishes in gold or bronze, silver or nickel and copper.

And I get a black nickel one.

That is only four samples! LOL

If I have a good idea what I really want, I will order those specifically.

I don't think they are a waste of time and money. The metal is a very important choice on a coin. You want to choose the metals that compliment your art.

fox-and-the-hound · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 241 Location: Northeast PA

The colors continuously change because every new batch of metal has slightly different quantities and qualities of mixed-metal. Bronze is any of a broad range of copper alloys, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon so you can imagine why color varies.

Officially this is Bonjet Interanational's Metals:

Gold
Silver
Copper
Brass
Nickel
Chrome
Imitation Gilt (pale gold)
Black Nickel
Foggy Gold (Matte gold)
Foggy Silver (matte silver)
Sandblasted Gold
Sandblasted Silver
Antique Gold
Antique Silver
Antique Nickel
Antique Bronze
Antique Copper
Dyeing Black
Two-tone Gold/Silver
Sandblasted Antique Gold

There might be others by now but that's my sample chart.
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WI_Robin · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Eau Claire, WI

DaFunkyFrogs · Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 135 Location: Hooterville, CA

Does anyone know where we could find pictures of all the metal finishes available?
We have tried comparing different coins we have to see what the differences are, but like others have said, it's hard to tell the difference in some of them, especially if we aren't positive which finish it actually is.
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Mousekakat · Joined: 04 Jul 2008 Posts: 149 Location: Sweden

God Bless Landsharkz Smile

DaFunkyFrogs · Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 135 Location: Hooterville, CA