HOME | COIN BLOG | HISTORY OF COINS VIDEO | FAQ | COIN SAMPLES | CUFFLINKS | PACKAGING | ATTACHMENTS | QUOTE | STORE
A “Check Weight™” is a coin designed to hold down a bar slip, receipt, or anything you don’t want blowing away, rolling off the bar or getting stuck to a wet glass!
Q: The number one question I hear from people who have never seen this type of coin:
Nice coin… what do you do with it?
- What do you do with coins?
A1: Coins like these originated in the US military. They are given by higher ranking individuals, as a small token of appreciation for whatever the individual receiving it did to deserve it. As young service men and women progress through their military career, they begin to collect a vast array of coins for different reasons; recognition coins, squadron coins, deployment coins, traded coins from new friends you met on a deployment and the list goes on.
A2: They are created to remember specific military operations or deployments and sold by units who basically take up a collection to order the coins and have them minted. Money is usually raised for the purpose of funding a big welcome home party when everyone returns. They sell them for $10 – $20 depending on how detailed the design, the size and the features on the coins. Military members around the world will ROUTINELY carry 10 – 20 EXTRA coins, from their own unit, whenever they deploy. The anticipation of trading coins with people from other units is always a way to keep your mind occupied while you’re in a not so great location or situation!
A3: Merchandise to sell – It’s something unique and has a higher impulse demand with a nice profit margin. Order them by the thousand and pay less than $4 each for a custom coin with your design and message and sell them for $10. EASY SALE. For restaurants, it’s really easy for your servers to up-sell one of your $10 coins, which could be shown at the table and simply added to the check. Make it a server contest and see which server can sell the most on a daily basis. Offer $$ or prizes to your servers as a reward.
A4: Milestone coins – (20 years in business, 50 years, 100 years or whatever!( What better way to remember this important year in the history of your business, than to have a commemorative coin struck to honor the occasion!) Get each coin numbered and limit how many you mint to drive the demand. Give them out to customers as a thank you (a great inexpensive way to literally place your brand in the hands of future customers!)
A5: Fundraising Coins version 1: Buy the coins, sell them as a fundraiser for your cause and donate the money raised to your cause.
A6: Fundraising Coins version 2: Find a sponsor willing to pay to have the coins minted for you. Put their logo on one side of the coin and your fundraiser or charity on the other side of the coin. Your organization sells the coins to raise money for your charity and the sponsor is recognized as the brand or business that made it possible.
A7: Lead Generation – Mint a specific run of coins (say 100,000) and number each coin. Put your brand and message on the coin and match the coin with a big local event. We can create a give away coin for the event, with the events logo and info on one side, and the brand and brand info on the other. Each coin would be numbered so anyone who receives a coin can log on to the brands website to register their unique coin number to see if they’ve won additional prizes from the brand. In registering their coin to see if they’ve won, you just collected all of the marketing data you wanted with every registration. Lead generation that costs you less than $4 a person!
A8: Squadron Coins / Deployment Coins – OK we’re being deployed to (fill in the blank) Cool… lets get a coin made. Pre-sell the coins before you even order them. GET THE MONEY UP FRONT from your buddies before you order the coins. It also lets you know exactly how many you want to order (and then add at least 100 extra on top of that because once they come in, and people see them they are going to want one!
A9: Achievement Coins – When you have a large work force and you want to publicly show your appreciation you hand your employees a coin with a firm hand shake, eye contact and a sincere thank you. Make them feel appreciated and they will work their butts off for you!
A10: Business Card Coins – Serious sales people want to stand out from the crowd. When they have an important client they are meeting, they will often hand them a coin just like these, with their business logo on one side, and their name and contact info on the other. On a desk full of cluttered business cards and ONE beautiful coin, whose name do you think the potential client is going to remember? YOURS!
A11: Reusable Coupons. Mint a custom $25 coin and sell it as your gift card / coin. If they come in with a coin, they use it when they pay their check and the coin is recycled.
A12: Interact with your customers. Have staff randomly “challenge” a guest. If the guest happens to have a coin for your restaurant, he or she has 60 seconds to produce it by slamming it face down, on the table. For meeting the challenge, he is rewarded whatever the offer is… free drink, free appetizer, 10% off his check etc. If he doesn’t have one of your coins, it’s the perfect lead in for your servers to explain that HAD he produced a coin from your establishment he would have received whatever the offer is. Then you can offer to add one to his check for just $10 or point him to where ever you’re selling them! Good for the year and they’re encouraged to ALWAYS carry your “Your Name Here” Coin when they come to your establishment because you never know when the staff might challenge you!
A13: Golf Ball Marker – Have custom sizes and styles made with your logo on one side!
A14: Branding tools – Put your brand log and message on the coin and give them out at big events. Get your name in their hands. It seems like everyone you give one to shows several other people too!
A15: Check Weights™. Used at a bar to hold down a check, receipt, tab, room charge upon closing the check.
So… what do YOU do with it? What uses can you think of with your own custom coin to promote or remember something important to you?
Follow us on facebook at http://facebook.com/customcoins
