IMO I would like to see theymos get in contact with Kialara, smoothie (Lealana), and Mike Caldwell (Casascius). These guys have 1oz, 2oz coins on lockdown and create absolutely stunning pieces. Not to say we don't have some other very capable coin creators but those three come to mind as being very large parts of the growth of this particular board on the forum. I'd throw eodguy in there but so far the last coin he teased here seemed to never come to fruition. Mind you they could possibly already have a lot on their plate due to upcoming releases, but with the proper incentive and exposure im sure they could create something incredible.
We have some incredible holograms kicking around aswell.. use the resources we have and make this coin a must have.
Overall, the idea of a 10-year commemorative coin seems decent, and perhaps could be a nice and symbolic thing to do.
I find some of the responsive comments in this thread to confuse me regarding: 1) the purpose of such coin, 2) the forum's historical discussions on coin-making/distribution topics, 3) whether an actual forum coin has either been attempted or carried out in the past and 4) what would be the budget for such a coin?
OP's outline of current contemplations did not help because in my thinking, there would be a considerable different purpose of such a coin depending on whether such coin were given out "all expenses paid" or "at cost," but either way, mailing addresses would need to be provided for recipients.
The quantity of coins being contemplated, such as 50-300 coins, seems to conceptualize the coins as a kind of "thank you for your contribution" token rather than a speculative collectors piece, but if the coins were going to be given out "at cost" then they might be more of a speculative piece that would justify a larger production of units, such as some responders suggested 1,000 to 2,000 coins (but maybe still could stick with 50-300 for the initial production batch to test out sentiment (pre-orders, too) even though considering a larger total amount, so long as the demand covers the costs of the coin).
Furthermore, depending on the coin materials, such coin costs and material value could reasonably be anywhere between $1 and $100, and of course, the more coins that are made would bring down the production cost per unit. Several members mentioned silver as an upgrade, so maybe there are thoughts of cheaper coins too, yet perhaps gold would be a bit more classy... hahahahaha
As I have been thinking through the issue, I have been becoming somewhat torn about the whole idea, yet I am sort of inclined towards the idea of a "all expenses paid" give away coin rather than something more complicated in order to limit liability or accusations of profit making, yet I am still unclear about what kind of budget would theymos been anticipating.
If the coin were given out "all expenses paid" then would the budget be $300, $3k or $30k or somewhere in the middle?
Something like $1 x 300 or $10 x 300, or $100 x 300? or if the purchasers of the coin were to pay for the coin, then there would have to be a perception of value from the users in terms of how much they would be willing to pay to cover the "costs" of such coin and also a willingness to provide a mailing address for receipt of such coin.
Personally, the more that I think through this and type about it, I believe that it would be better to just establish a budget for the coin, and then provide the coins as a "give away" all expenses paid. Then the budget, such as $3k or $30k (or somewhere between) might dictate how many coins could be made for that amount, depending on if there would be access to people who are experienced in the coin-making business as teeGUMES mentioned.. or if the coin-making vender would be opened up for biddings and request for proposals (RFPs).
