Collecting Custom Coins

Throughout history, coins have been not only used as a means of trading but have also been presented as gifts or memorabilia pertaining to certain events. Team members have been awarded custom coins when they win certain trophies and regiments of the armed services have also been awarded of gifted with coins customized to commemorate particular achievements. Presenting people with custom coins is an excellent form of personalized gift that they will undoubtedly cherish for a long time, and will always remember why, when and by whom they were presented it.

Lucky pennies and other custom coins

Sometimes particular coins are encased in a decorative metal outer to personalize them. This was particularly true of the lucky penny. Often they were surrounded by a metal horseshoe to continue the lucky theme. Companies sometimes used this method to personalize coins inexpensively as a promotional tool. The casing was usually something related to the theme of the company or the particular promotion.

Collecting custom coins

As with any form of coin collection you are best specializing in one particular area of custom coins. Perhaps you want to collect all custom coins that relate to sports, or even one particular team. Motor companies, such as Buick, quite often created these encased custom coins in order to promote their company or even a new line of products. It is a practice that is still going strong even today.

Because of the popularity of creating these coins and distributing, selling or giving them away as promotional items or gifts there are plenty of different areas for you to concentrate your efforts. It would be unusual to see any rare coin being encased because the action of forcibly inserting it into the metal casing often leads to quite serious damage to the obverse of the coin. However, some of the encased coins can be highly collectible because of the nature of the coin itself.

How custom coins were sold

Originally the encased custom coin was sold almost solely by the traveling salesmen. They would sell advertising space to the companies who created the coins and include their products in the catalogue. Customers would then pay the salesmen for the coins who in turn would pay the company to create them. Nowadays, of course, the advent of the Internet has seen to it that this has changed. You can visit one of the websites belonging to companies who offer this service and you can either use one of the stock dies giving you a very affordable option or contact them to let them know you have your own design and ask for a quote.

Use of custom coins

As processes improve and the market has opened to a greater level of competition prices have subsequently dropped. This means that the creation of custom coins is a process that more and more businesses can afford. You will find casino chips made of some of the finest silver available, and gift voucher type coins that can only be redeemed at certain stores for their face value. Of course, they are used to promote companies and new items as well as being handed out to team, group or club members for a special achievement.

Specializing in custom coins

The scope of collecting and using encased custom coins is truly incredible and if you do want to start a collection of these intriguing coins then selecting the area you want to specialize in is of paramount importance. To help you decide, you may want to do a little research on custom coins. Find one or two that you like and see if there is a link between them. When you find that link search for more that would fall under the same category. Ensure that you aren't selecting a category that demands high prices on a regular basis, unless you can afford it.