Coins from The Wheel of Time

[tmaring]

Hi!

 

My name is Tom Maringer. I have a small private mint called Shire Post Mint. Last year we officially licensed with Bandersnatch Inc. to make coins for The Wheel Of Time world! I am new to Dragonmount and am not sure where to post, so if there is a better place than this, please let me know!

 

I'd like to let people know about the coins we have already made, and encourage people to offer suggestions as to those we might make in the future. 

 

At the moment we have a Tar Valon Mark, about quarter size, struck in nickle-silver. For this piece we created a 'collector-card' packaging in which the coin is pressed into a hole in a heavy printed card, which comes in a 3x4 hard plastic case. The card is printed so that the image on the coin becomes part of the whole picture. This piece was done without precious metals so as to be affordable. They are available on eBay, Amazon, and through retailers like Taveren Tees and ThinkGeek. http://www.ebay.com/itm/131044661105

 

We also have a Manetheren Golden Crown. Again we've used red-brass instead of real gold, but the modeling on the design work is quite nice. It shows a young woman on obverse with roses in her hair, and on reverse the red eagle. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130983113804

 

And finally we've done a second Tar Valon Mark... this time in pure silver! And this one comes affixed to the white wax seal of an Amyrlin Seat document... a document you may remember from the story! http://www.ebay.com/itm/131134897960

 

Our idea is to create artifacts from the universe so as to facilitate immersive fantasy. The more authentic the artifact, the fuller the immersion. The pure silver mark with the Amyrlin document is the furthest we have gone in this direction for this world so far! We are now considering what other pieces to start adding to the mix. Andoran crowns, Tearan crowns, Seachan coins... the list could go on for some time and it's tough to pick which would be the coolest to do. 

 

I'd love to hear from people who have thoughts on this subject as well as on the subject of how artifacts may enhance immersive fantasy experience. 

 

May the light illumine you!

 

Tom

[dawnflower8]

A good place to start would be in this forum http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/forum/72-introduce-yourself/

 

I'm interested in seeing what these coins look like; do you have pictures?

[tmaring]

Hi Dawnflower:

 

Been there on the Introduce yourself page (I think mine was on page 22). 

 

I have TONS of pictures, but I don't want to clog up the works so I gave links instead. Plus I'm still not sure which forum is best for doing this. 

 

Thanks

 

Tom

[damandred]

Double post

[damandred]

Hi Tom

 

I dont know what WoT nation it would represent, but, i think the WoT 3 pronged serpent biting its own tail sign ( as on uk paperbacks ) is a must.

Not only is it a cool design it is im the most iconic WoT image. For the other side maybe you could have Rand with the dragon fang or maybe actual dragons like of the dragon banner, yin and yang? I dont know but the serpent sign for certain.

[tmaring]

Do you mean this symbol?

 

 

 

This is the Tar Valon Seal that we designed to be used on the reverse side of both types of the Tar Valon marks. It's got the flame in the center, surrounded by seven swirls to represent the ajahs, and with the Ourobouros surrounding it. 

 

But I think perhaps you meant this symbol:

Which is the registered trademark of Bandersnatch inc. and represents the Wheel of Time franchise itself, as viewed from the outside. As far as I can tell, this symbol was probably NOT used within the storyline itself. By request of licensor we use this one on all the packaging, and Ta'veren tees has used it on their "challenge coin", but I don't think it would ever be found on actual coins from within the fantasy world. 

 

Dragons are always an option! They make for wonderful graphic arts. At the moment I'm thinking in terms of the sorts of coins that Mat would be handling during his dicing encounters during his travels, and the sorts of coins that would be carried and used throughout the story.  I have to apologize for my ignorance of the full scope of the tale... I am only just now about halfway through book 4, so I am as-yet unaware of events that come later. I don't mind spoilers... does there come a time when Rand would actually issue coinage in his own name? If so, then a dragon coin would be a "Must"!

 

For now the most ambitious project has been the pure silver Tar Valon mark of Siuan Sanche, used to seal a document from the Amyrlin Seat. As you can see, the coin can be used with sealing wax to impress the Tar Valon seal on documents! We have created this particular one so that it matches the description of the document that Mat and the girls carry. 

 

We hope to create many more coins from within this world! All suggestions welcome. 

 

Have fun!   Tom Maringer

 

 

 

 

[mb]

Generally a moderator or an administrator would move a thread if it is in the wrong section; once they read it.

 

Could you provide a full list of the coins that have already been made?

 

some sites that might give ideas::

http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/index.html

http://13depository.blogspot.com/

http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/

 

and for coin descriptions in the books, the Ideal Seek site might help.  http://idealseek.no-ip.com/

basically enter a word or phrase and the site would tell all occurrences of the word/phrase.

[BFG]

I think you're good here.

 

You may also find people who are interested in either the general discussion forum or the tuathaan boards, both in the social groups forums.

 

Welcome to the boards

[threadnecromancer]

I would be rather interested in Andoran coins, get some with Elayne on them!

 

I Rand coin is also a must, he was king of Illian for about a year so I think he naturally would have had coins minted showing him wearing the crown of swords on the obverse. For immersion's sake the reverse should probably just have a bumblebee coat of arms or something to represent Illian though.

[tmaring]

Okay, I'm still in book 4 so we're getting into parts of the story I don't know yet. You mention the Crown of Swords... sounds rather classy. Is there a good verbal description of what it looks like. 

 

You also mention Elayne... so... do I gather (SPOILER ALERT) that she eventually ascends to the throne of Andor? I had been thinking in terms of older ones... the ones Mat would have been playing with, probably with Morgase on them. But Elayne might be a lot of fun. I was especially liking the fact that the Andoran crowns are specifically mentioned as larger and heavier than the Tearan ones. That says a lot about Andor. 

 

Cool suggestions. This is the sort of discussion I am looking for. Typically we will knock around ideas until something seems to gel, then start sketches. There are SO MANY possibilities that it can be daunting to choose... but some of the design ideas float to the top of their own merit. 

 

Have fun!

 

Tom

[threadnecromancer]

In terms of Rand's crown you can easily find pictures of it online by looking for the alternate American cover for A Crown of Swords (you can find it on the wiki article) or the standard American cover of the Path of Daggers. I would include a link but for some reason I simply cannot post them here. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will emphasise that it would only be an Illianer coin.

[tmaring]

Hi!  I just wanted to let everyone know that there's been a price reduction on the Manetheren Golden Crown coin. It's available on:

eBay:   http://www.ebay.com/itm/130983113804

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F2K1P3O

Shirepost: http://www.shirepost.com/wp/product/manetheren-golden-crown-of-ellisande/

 

Someday someone will ask for the story on this one. It became an epic project. The relief is unusually high and caused all sorts of problems.

 

Have fun!

 

Tom

[Orderofolde]

I think that a silver penny should be done in 90% silver, the same one that Nynaeve gave to Luca and Luca threw after them.  It was iconic, and silver pennies are often quoted in the series.  Something small about the size of a US dime to allow it to be cheap enough for collectors, and real silver so that it is worth collecting.  Maybe a visually appealing design of Tarabon or something from the borderlands.  An old Malkieri silver penny, and on the obverse an image of RJ?  Might spark more than a passing interest in WOT coinage.  For me, I'm just not feeling the Manetheran design though the Tar Valon Mark was nice, the one struck in silver.

[tmaring]

Interesting idea!  I'm only up to book five and have not run across that one. Dime size silver is doable. If you'd care to discuss it further or suibmit some sketches I'd love to hear from you. You can email me:  maringer at arkansas dot net   Thanks! Tom