Challenge Coins on a Budget. (REALLY?)

We have been fielding inquiries about challenge coins, and with the current cost of brass, we have been going deaf from the sound of peoples' jaws hitting the floor. The usual question is: "What do brass challenge coins cost?" That's like asking, "How long is a piece of wire?" The more appropriate questions to ask is: "I am not a close friend of Paris Hilton, so can you help me out with challenge coins on a budget?"

Challenge coins do not HAVE to be brass (which, yes, has become very costly.) My friend Dan Arakawa, with whom we do our majority of coin and pin business, suggests zinc alloy coins.

Zinc alloy is not aluminum; it does not make a namby-pamby "tink" sound when it hits a table. As a substitue for brass, instead of using the traditional spin-casting technique with cheap lead-based metal, Dan uses a super high-grade zinc alloy material in a rubber injection mold. This technique creates the same high quality look of traditional brass coins, but the cost is lower. The only difference is a barely perceptible difference in weight between a zinc and a brass coin.

And if you want a cutout inside your design, with the zinc coin they are free; with brass the charge for a cutout is $40.

Included in pricing are two-dimensional molds for both sides, a high polish or antique finish, and FREE artwork from your sketches. (If you have artwork already, Dan is happy to create the coin from that.)

500 of the 1 1/2" diameter coins at 3 mm thickness (about an eighth of an inch) are $2.86 each (plus tax and shipping, of course.) You can add up to four inlay colors for an additional 20 cents per coin per side. Again, interior holes are free.