I do. But I have 2 of them. The other one is sealed in the case. I have the SigForum ring too.

quote:

Originally posted by 400m:
Nobody is actually carrying a silver or copper challenge coin uncased correct?

Would love to be part of new Coin issue if it could be arranged.

Here is a pic I snapped this afternoon of all three (3) Sigforum Challenge Coin Styles (silver top, copper middle, and painted metal bottom):

I don't recall having a painted option when they came out before. Did you have that painted? Cool looking.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Here is a pic I snapped this afternoon of all three (3) Sigforum Challenge Coin Styles (silver top, copper middle, and painted metal bottom):

quote:

Originally posted by ador:
I don't recall having a painted option when they came out before. Did you have that painted? Cool looking.

No, I didn't have it painted. If memory serves me correct 2015 editions were copper and silver, and 2017 editions were painted metal and silver. Perhaps ffips will join in as he did all of the heavy lifting for 2017.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
No, I didn't have it painted. If memory serves me correct 2015 editions were copper and silver, and 2017 editions were painted metal and silver. Perhaps ffips will join in as he did all of the heavy lifting for 2017.

Your memory is correct. I am not sure what I can add. If I recall correctly, the silver and copper were minted at Ampex Provident Metals. The 2017 version was simply a site that allowed for small runs of challenge coins.

edited to correct mint used for silver and copper coins

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ffips,

Time Flies!!

I just found a silver one in the case, in my desk drawer!

So, who is interested in a new group coin?

Oh wow. How did I miss that 2017 colored version of the SigForum coin? That is a very cool looking coin. I will surely be interested if we are to do another batch in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
No, I didn't have it painted. If memory serves me correct 2015 editions were copper and silver, and 2017 editions were painted metal and silver. Perhaps ffips will join in as he did all of the heavy lifting for 2017.

Your memory is correct. I am not sure what I can add. If I recall correctly, the silver and copper were minted at Ampex. The 2017 version was simply a site that allowed for small runs of challenge coins.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:... If I recall correctly, the silver and copper were minted at Ampex. ...

Provident Metals.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by ador:
I don't recall having a painted option when they came out before. Did you have that painted? Cool looking.

No, I didn't have it painted. If memory serves me correct 2015 editions were copper and silver, and 2017 editions were painted metal and silver. Perhaps ffips will join in as he did all of the heavy lifting for 2017.

I have no clue how I missed the fact there was a time the painted ones were available. I would have gotten some. Strange.

quote:

Originally posted by billpocz:
Time Flies!!

I just found a silver one in the case, in my desk drawer!

So, who is interested in a new group coin?

I'd be in for another group buy. I assume many others would be too.

I’d be very interested in a couple coins, both silver and copper (a couple of each).

I bought a couple of both the siler and copper coins.
I refuse to sell them. I have karma'd a few and gifted a few to members.

Good score on buying one from a different website, it would be interesting to know the coin's journey.

If we did another run I would definitely be in for a bunch but good luck in getting ffips and sigmonkey onboard. As I remember it, they busted their asses and put up their own time, effort, and money as collateral to make it happen. Being who they are, they will understate their contribution.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
I bought a couple of both the siler and copper coins.
I refuse to sell them. I have karma'd a few and gifted a few to members.

Good score on buying one from a different website, it would be interesting to know the coin's journey.

If we did another run I would definitely be in for a bunch but good luck in getting ffips and sigmonkey onboard. As I remember it, they busted their asses and put up their own time, effort, and money as collateral to make it happen. Being who they are, they will understate their contribution.

Yes, they did an AMAZING job. That is no easy task. I would never sell my coins. If another challenge coin run was done, I would probably have to stick with copper with the current price of silver. I sure wish I had bought more silver and gold back when, but oh well.

I too have one that was gifted to me by a kind member during a transaction some time ago. It’s not going anywhere.

I can't speak for those guys who sponsored the group buy, but I would like to think that the mold is still available at Provident Metals and that another set up would be a little less work. <hint>

The custom/one off molds and dies are not kept by Providential, and even if they did, the dies are hardened and cannot be changed/modified after final hardening.

New molds would need to be created from artwork by hand sculpturing (artist), then dies manufactured. in the case of the SIGcoin, there were three dies. two obverse (one for silver, one for copper) and one reverse that was used for both.

Understand that because of the artwork and die creation, there needs to be a certain minimum commitment from the membership to make the process economically reasonable.

Note also that silver closed Friday at $88.54, almost 3x just one year ago, which will make volume purchasing difficult for many members.

I hesitate to share this because it might come out as being negative. This is my perspective. If sigmomkey opts to share his, that is up to him.

When this was done in 2015, spot for silver was off the top of my head $15-$17. Mints were selling silver rounds for around $20/oz that were custom designed for the mint. I think we were able to get the silver rounds in the near neighborhood of $25-$30/round. It might have been a bit cheaper. It was a struggle to get commitments from buyers at $10+ over spot.

Now those rounds are as Artie pointed out worth probably somewhere around $80 each. So, as an investment the coins have increased over 10 years. Did you buy them to invest or for the rarity of the coin? Would you purchase today at $100/round or more?

I'll tell you that no amount of money would get someone of of the "extras" that I have (not that there are many). I would however give one freely that someone I felt deserved one. Making these wasn't about making money. At the time people wanted challenge coins. Does everyone realize challenge coins are made out of pot metal?

I had taken up the mantle to make challenge coins when sigmomkey reached out and said "let's knock this out of the park and make real coins." We learned a lot about one another and SIGforum over the months that followed the decision to move forward. We started in early 2015 and it wasn't until the fall after surveys, requests for commitments, and decisions being made that a final design was chosen and things went to the presses (literally).

Once we had closed things after multiple notifications on the forum and via emails, there were still those that "never saw the threads" somehow. There were those that were mad because what was made wasn't a challenge coin (you know, the pot metal version). For two years I listened to complaints about "what should have been" or "I missed out." In 2017, I decided with some help from sigmomkey, to make the challenge coins that would satisfy those who desired. We needed to get to 500 coins to get them made. Again several threads and emails went out. The goal of 500 was never reached. The producer could have simply refunded funds. I worked with them and got them to run an even smaller batch. So, if you have the "painted," (it's really enameled because we wanted them to last) you sort of got an extra special deal because the seller didn't have to complete the shorted order.

Please stop and be thankful that SIGforum was able to find unobtanium and created three coins from it. In the past sigmomkey and I have very briefly tossed around the idea of another run. Then we have both decided that perhaps lightning shouldn't strike the same place twice.

In the end, I am glad I was deeply involved in both projects. The best result being a genuine life life long friend.

I think I paid either $24 or $28 for the silver rounds. As I recall, I think I have 6 silver and 4 copper, although it may be 4 and 4.

If we were to do this again, I'd buy at least one of each, and I think that there is an excellent chance that silver will drop back to somewhere close to it's historic level, which might cause me to buy more than one. But I am fairly certain that I would not be buying a total of 10 coins, and certainly not if that purchase was going to run to $700 or more.