It took a long time, but finally they're here.
It started when visiting Taiwan some years ago, I discovered the wonderful antique coins and charms sold at some market stalls.
I should point out that some of these may be fake - please understand that I don't actually care; to me they are essentially slugs of metal with pictures of dragons on.
So after getting familiar with shapeJS for designing coin-like tokens, it occurred to me that I could make my own design with a nice big dragon on.
I was already wanting to make a token in a Reuleaux pentagon, and the dragon seemed like a good fit.
I used Inkscape, which seems quite powerful, and is free - if a little clunky in places.
Getting a design took some time, and the detail required did make the computer chug a bit a times, but eventually I was happy.
It was at
this point I realised I needed something for the back. Duh!
I could have duplicated it, or put some text there or something, but it didn't feel right. So I made a another image for the back, inspired by the related mythological creature of the Fenghuang, or "Chinese phoenix". It might not quite match all the traditional Chinese details, but hey, it's my design.
So then the question is - which material?
I'd originally designed for Stainless steel, but I was so pleased with it that I also ordered in raw bronze, for a higher resolution version.
Cunningly, I used a thinner core for this, which trims quite a bit off the cost.
Unfortunately, the bronze coin was then cancelled from the order. The bronze guys seem much more finicky about minimum spec than the steel guys, who can print anything.
Anyway, at that point the black friday offer came along; I ended up ordering raw
and polished bronze to take advantage of this.
So here they are. Left to right: Stainless steel, raw bronze, polished bronze.
They all have their own characteristics. Most people I show them to think the polished version is the most luxurious. Well, it is the most expensive.
But I think the steel version has a certain something about it. Here it is with some of the rest of my collection of dragon coins.
The steel coin with some of my collection of large oriental coins and tokens.
I've put all three versions in my shop. They're different mainly in the thickness of the core, but there are a few tweaks to the design to pass the screening process, and the polished version is slightly larger.
[list type=disc]
[*]
Steel Dragon Coin : Lowest cost. Sturdy, antique feel.
[*]
Detailed Dragon Coin : (Unpolished bronze, brass or silver) highest detail, intermediate cost.
[*]
Polished Dragon Coin : (Polished bronze, brass or silver) : Very shiny, with intermediate detail. Slightly larger diameter.
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