Topic: Gauge of Interest - New physical coins Chinese Lunar Coins (Read 3549 times)

Very good.
Will the hologram be silver or gold??

Thanks

That will be one sweet hologram.
Any reason start/end with years 1958/2018??

Thanks

sure not a bad idea. The mintages are going to be numbered quite low so maybe 5 coins DIY or something? As you did so well selling the last DIY these could be for you to sell  .
Here is the final version which is at the manufacturers for quotation so if anyone spots a mistake please tell me. I did check but sometimes these things slip through.


But I am still struggling with the art work for the front. I will persevere however and  hope to release start of the year if I get he coin art work done quickly.

I like this very much !

What I would like is that there will be two versions available, one "NORMAL"coin with address+privatekey behind hologram and one "DIY" version (coin + loose holo). If it would be possible: the Normal coin serial numbered, the DIY no serial. So the Normal coin is a bit more exclusive than the DIY.

Looking forward to more deisgn concepts and when it is possible to preorder please let us know.

They are photos found from the web.. then turned into black and white and will hopefully make it really 3D in the holo.

They look similar to Perth mints lunar animals ....

Hologram looks great. Are all the animals custom designed or are they stock images?

Good question. I have always been tempted to go for silver but I am under the impression gold stands out better  and gives more of a range of colors. I will discuss this with the sticker manufacturers see what they say.

Fantastic. Yes those are the last things to change as well as the 1 bitcoin to another value but haven't sat down and written the years out yet as she keeps moving them  I agree the holo will look good if the 3D effect of the animals work out as expected. SimpLe and straight to the point.
Thanks for the feedback so far and will do the changes mentioned and get it away to be manufactured.

1993 listed twice - typo, no 1991 (Goat). Needs checking to make sure its 100%

If Halo and I can spot, then I am sure there could be others

BUT ... I love this as a holo.

Beautiful design.   BTW...is 1970 there?...maybe it should replace 1958?

4 coins planned to be released per year. Well hopefully. So last year is 2018

So this is the hologram design.  Working on a new coin design however.

You have an opportunity with lunar year design to create an endless series if done right.

minerjones lays it out nicely in (his?) first comment.

Not completely certain, but lunar years look something like this...

http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/xiamen-info-781.html

Maybe something to define the year of minting.

BTW, not at all suggesting the design on that web page for the front but maybe something like it
on the back...of course done MUCH more beautifully/detailed and incorporating bitcoin info.

Google results for lunar year silver rounds (so you don't end up being too similar).

A well done design + striking could make these must haves. You may want to design a few of the animals in advance so they carry the same look/theme per series?
Then, premiums for proof or using different metals

The change in value over time is the point.

I like the second option better although the symbol may need some touching up.
What will the coin be like? Will the design be tone? Also think a 0.1 denomination will be better.

There will be 1 BTC on the front sure or what ever denomination is decided upon. I dont want to really go down the cartoonish road and didn't like the last designs I was just curious if it was just me that didn't like them. I prefer realistic images. I  will have to seek another designer I think.

would you buy it though? I think its better also but still I dont really like it

And the chinese symbol is made of chocolate .....

I like the second one better, but that grin and those eyes make me think he just smoked a big one. 

Thats another good point bithalo!

OK then well as a compromise these might as well be 1 Bitcoin coins or 0.5.
What do you think of these ideas?

I see no point in making the value of silver the same as the Bitcoin denomination.  Either silver or Bitcoin value will change over time, so it won't stay constant.  Even so, I don't see a value in it.

"Interesting indeed. They will be 1 troy ounce.  What about 0.1 bitcoin then? Or is that too small for a 1 troy ounce coin?"

I would like the value in loaded btc to be equal to the value of the silver at the time of release. but I am likely to be in the minority regarding that ;-).

Interesting indeed. They will be 1 troy ounce.  What about 0.1 bitcoin then? Or is that too small for a 1 troy ounce coin?

I did not collect the Lunar year in full but do regularly send coins (including BTC) to the grade school and above kids in my life as gifts. Of course "The Dragon" is beautiful on its own ( I even kept a few for myself) a premium was paid for those which I usually prefer not to do with precious metal but couldn't help myself that year. I'm also partial to the way Pamp encases their bars (one of my favorites to give/keep is Lady Fortuna).
Depending on your price point and how flush I am, these would make perfect gifts.

For gifting I would like to see a dated coin 1/2 -1 ounce silver with an equal amount in value of btc (depending on premium).
but I am unusual in this regard because I'm trying to impart subtle financial lessons as gifts.
Example: last year I matted and framed a dollar bill, a silver dollar and a One Hundred Billion Dollar Zimbawee note.
In the back I gave a brief history of values and 1/10 bitcoin paper wallet, giving it to one of the older children.

It would be nice to have something to give my friends that is bitcoin related...but a little blingy too ;-) and if it directly correlates value at that time? Bonus ;-)

That is an idea. Will try incorporate these ideas somehow. The art work is getting re done

Maybe a smaller pixelated retro style pattern if you are going for the square thing. Yin yang symbols are normally circular. You could have a monkey climbing in the center on top of yin yang background made of tiny ones and zeros (or tiny Bitcoin Bs) with a simple 2015 at the top and the denomination at the bottom.

It does raise a very good question in my mind though .... this design lends itself to a 'non circular' coin. All cryptocoins I have seen have been round (except the bars, and guldencoin was slightly different). Is there any scope for a different shape coin (like a UK 20 or 50p) ? Definately would stand out from the herd. Would probably require a none circular holo also.

Like the idea of the yin and yang too. Could have the image split, and have one side the negative image and one side the positive (ie use matt and mirroring to create the inverse). But that would again lend itself better to a circular coin.

I can't see the monkey's tail. That would make it look more real to me. Maybe a smaller character on the front left or write something in small characters that connects the year of the monkey to Bitcoin. I think it would be neat to incorporate the yin yang to divide up the coin and try to capture both the dark greed driven side of bitcoin and the potential wealth in bitcoin.

Either way, I will probably pick one up as long as I can store some cryptos on it.

Haha. True, I hadnt' really looked that hard but it was an improvement over the scary eyes from the last page, and he did ask for opinions?

I really like that more myself, but maybe a little more detailed, and a bit smaller of course.

I would not buy one simply because I don't have the funds right now and chinese heritage/culture doesn't interest me a whole lot; if I were to buy any however , I would like to buy at least 2 so having a bundle discount would be nice. You should offer a 10% discount for using bitcoin for incentive!

I'm glad monkeynuts went first so I didn't appear out of line.  It's a little creepy with the monkey's pointy ears, open mouth, and looking straight at you.   Yikes.  It's giving me nightmares. 

First impressions ... You need to sort the big monkeys mouth out - it looks like a blow up doll !! 

Little monkeys eyes kind of give me the creeps as well

Will it say Lunar year of the monkey on it ?

What does the Chinese symbol mean ?

Will the flip side be all holo ?

Can I ask what you think of this design? Do you think it looks good? I can not decide really it looks just OK to me. Any feedback welcome.

Great idea. Use Vanitygen (or whatever) and get some animal addresses. That will also help your cross over appeal to the none crypto market on ebay.

Fine when you have a short one like 1Ox, ok upto 1Snake, painstaking when getting upto 1Rabbit .... but just too hard trying to do 1Rooster (try 1 cock !    ). I know, I am trying to do a case sensitive 1(7char) .... Dont try and do Case sensitive address generation, save yourself a lot of time

OK so this is quite hard to decide then but fun deciding. I think to have an individual coin for the year is good and to have an un-dated coin kind of loses its appeal somehow as MN says its just an animal coin.

What I am thinking is to Start with a 2016 coin year of the Monkey. If successful then work my way out in both directions. Meaning make a 2017 Rooster and a 2014 Sheep. Carry this on until I get a full series. But this could change.. Depending on how well the first sale goes.

Then for the hologram have something like a modified version of this http://uschina.usc.edu/Files/images/2013-01/chinese%20zodiac.jpg so I can fit in a window to show the first 8 digit bitcoin address.

Actually if I could work out how to do it securely it would be good to mine some bitcoin addresses to fit in with the coin such as year or animal name.

If you do this with the years, put me down for one of the year of snake coins.

The perth mint lunar series that you showed .... you showed series 1, and they are now a good way through series 2 .... although they did have a cross over of the series with both series being done for the 2008 mouse / rat coin ... and I assume upto the end of 2010. Each series has an overall feel, and each series's comparable animal to the other series is different.

They release a set a year. Various denominations from 1/2, 1, 2 5 and 10oz, upto kilos, and above in silver, and also a variety of gold sizes (each years coins have a similar design). They have mirrored finish proof rounds and non mirrored BU rounds in greater numbers. They also issue a few sets of proof coins. Plus they do colourised coins and gilded coins, sometimes a variety of colourised coins in 1 year (certainly did for the more recent snakes and dragons)

It has collectors queueing each year at release time. Older series 1, plus rarer lower mintage varieties, fetch a good premium. But their mint runs are far far greater. There are only a few runs of less than 5000 coins, for the lower / mid denom silvers. Some collect a particular round type. Some just fill their boots on a particular year (like when their kids were born). There are other lunar series, but this is the daddy of them all.

Difficult to translate that into yours. But, by having a year, and by having multiple series, they are having perpetual business.

My 2 satoshis ... I would say ignore whatever years / animals have gone before, and start a new series, 1 issue per year. But that is a big undertaking. Without a year, they are just animal coins, and have no link to the lunar calendar (calendar as in date ...).

If you want to push them all out in one go ... perhaps issue the coins with the various years on for that lunar animal - e.g for the rabbits have a design with the dates 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 etc. Try and do a 'catch all'. Go back as far as you dare.

Good luck with it :-)

Thanks. 1 Coin per year is a little slow for me though but I get your point. I was not going to put the actual year on you see. Ie not put 2016 so it can be more generalised and I can make the full set in 2 years.. I don't know if that's a good idea or not? What do you think?

I suppose I could also do special edition ones which will have the year on and limit these to very small numbers.

From a collectors point of view would you prefer a year? Would having a more general coin with no year work?

Thanks for your comments I appreciate it.

I just came to post mostly what Snarlpill said.

Start with the 2016 Year of the Monkey and continue each year going forward.  This gives a good opportunity for early collectors of the series to see profits as new collectors each year drive up the premiums on previous years as they try to collect a full set.  This is also seen with Chinese Pandas.

shit ... lunar coins and crypto coins. My weaknesses.

Looks like I will be broke just in time for xmas 

Yes I suppose you are right! A competition for a sticker I was thinking but its quite a lot of work you see so there would have to be runner up prizes which would take the top prize down. But I will consider and I could send the people who are designing artwork from my last stickers to compare the design to the sticker.

As for the goat yes you are probably right and I might have to change this its just a goat isn't the most exciting animal. But yes probably thats the best way forward. The Goat and Monkey first. 

Design competition for a new specific MicroSoul hologram sounds cool, I would try my hand at it just for fun. I think it would be neat to incorporate Chinese symbols into it, maybe a rough Chinese translation of MicroSoul if it's only for the MicroSoul Lunar Series coins.

As far as what design to make first- I would try to stick to the current year's Lunar animals. Like for 2015 I believe is the Year of the Goat for the Perth Mint and other's silver bullion coins (I could be wrong, I follow coins and silver but not the various Lunar coins). I think you'd have better luck with your goal of them selling to "non-Bitcoin" people if the year and animal matched up with the current year's Lunar animals on other Silver coins. I would really try to play on the low mintage aspect then as well. I will post it to reddit.com/r/Silverbugs for you when you know a production date or something. Big US/worldwide silver and coin community there.

Hi yeah a new specific hologram and some kind of design like the silver casascius coins but instead of the 1's and 0's the little devil heads.. anyway I will finalise that nearer the time I guess. I might hold a design competition for the back surrounding the hologram.

I would be interested.  I'm assuming the reverse has the microsoul or some other hologram over the private key.

Yes you might be right. I might make 25 of each and stagger production into 2 sets so that I am only out of pocket the production of 50 at a time.
Mind you saying that this is if they are popular!

Also which ones to make first? I am currently working on the design of Year of the Snake as this is my daughters year of birth.

The problem of making 3 versions means 3 different Die costs. This is a major dent in the production costs so will try stick to one for each year and stick to the popular weight that comes from this thread.

So I am Gauging interest for now as this is going to be a massive project. I want to make a set of Chinese lunar coins. 10 of each year to start (maybe more). Like these:


Because of the low number these will be pretty pricey. Around 100-150 Euros each (if 1 troy Oz and will half if they are 1/2 troy Oz) plus the Bitcoin value. They  will come in a case and look 100% AMAZING.

But before I start may I ask:

Would you buy one?
How many would you buy?
What bitcoin value should they be?
1 Oz or 1/2 Troy Oz silver


I am hoping these will sell to normal (non bitcoin) people too on ebay by combining 2 popular concepts.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!