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 Replies: 136 / Views: 14,143 |
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Pillar of the Community
Mexico
1304 Posts |
I totally dig it. How things coming in the meantime?
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Valued Member
United States
242 Posts |
I love this idea but I thought of an option you might want to look into, came from an old trick I did for my mom.
My mom kept locking herself out of the house but she always had her wallet on her. So what I did was I took an old expired bank card and cut a hole out of it in the shape of a house key and then embeded the key in the card and put it back in her wallet. At first glance it just looked like any other bank card but when she locked her self out she had a spare that wasnt part of her keyring (Which was always in the house when she locked herself out :P).
You would still need to laminate yours of course but I was thinking if you could get credit card sized plastic blanks with rounded edges maybe you could print on them use a right size drill bit to cut a hole for the coin and then laminate that. Should keep it from warping/bending and have more 'umph' to it. Having it associated with a credit card sized card that they already have in their wallet might encourage people to keep them in their wallet or think of them more 'real', etc. For all you know you might be selling carrying cases in a few years. :D
For cutting the hole the easy trick is to put a small piece of wood either side of the plastic, clamp them in place and drill through all three. Keeps it from shifting if its clamped right and wont shread or tear like it might if its just exposed. Only thing is finding the right size drill bits but that may not be too hard considering how 'randomly standardized' things are in the US even across seemingly unrelated topics.
Just an idea. I know it adds to overhead but depends on what kind of deal you can get etc on supplies I imagine.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1796 Posts |
@harrison2 - Farm markets, flea markets and mom and pop shops seem to be very receptive to these guys and with how silver has been performing there is a heck of a lot of interest. Looks like I might be making these available to the public in the next week or so (provided all goes well). :-)
@Schwanke - I did originally think about thicker plastic cards, but I those turned out to be cost prohibitive as finding a non-PVC-based cards that are printable is an expensive endeavor that would force me to price their trade value at more than 100% of their spot (i.e. there would be more premium than silver backing it, which I'm trying to avoid). Plus they made the final result very bulky for their worth. The thinner plastic (surprisingly) wears better, too, and fits quite neatly into half of a standard wallet's bill fold without needing to flex. :-)
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Valued Member
United States
242 Posts |
Ahh ok. No worries then. Btw, I just found my first silver coin. :) 1964 dime. Weighs in at 2.48 has no copper sandwitch on the side. I feel special! :D
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1195 Posts |
how do you figure those trade and buyback values?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10038 Posts |
Maybe I am dense. Could you explain how you plan to use these?
How much squash could a Sasquatch squash if a Sasquatch would squash squash? Download and read: Grading the graders Costly TPG ineptitude and No FG Kennedy halveshttps://ln5.sync.com/dl/7ca91bdd0/w...i3b-rbj9fir2 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
@argentum - All of the prices will be mathematically determined by considering:
1) The spot price of the metal in the encapsulated coin,
2) The time and materials to create the cards,
3) The resources to compile and host the authentication content on the website.
The Trade price will also be rounded to the nearest 10 cents, simply to keep the numbers easier to work with (i.e. as a practical consideration).
@Earle42 - They're basically barter cards backed (quite directly) by precious metal that have authentication and worth tracking features built into them. A sort of bridge, if you will, between physical and "paper" silver where the note itself contains readily identifiable silver and is in convenient enough denominations for everyday purchases.
...I also admit that there is a little bit of intent to try and hook people into numismatics as a hobby. All it takes for some people is something a little unusual. :-)
Edited by SteveCaruso
09/08/2012 02:03 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10038 Posts |
Do you have good success with people accepting these in stores? I suppose Mom and Pop places would be more inclined than a Walmart. I know where I live, at one time they actually were accepting the NORFED rounds at some of the larger establishments - even Walmart. But I have a feeling the private employees were actually buying the pieces for themselves from the cash registers. How much squash could a Sasquatch squash if a Sasquatch would squash squash? Download and read: Grading the graders Costly TPG ineptitude and No FG Kennedy halveshttps://ln5.sync.com/dl/7ca91bdd0/w...i3b-rbj9fir2 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
I haven't had any luck with bigger establishments yet, but my best luck has been at weekly farm markets and local shops where I know the owners, but they've been spreading the word.
Now that I think of it, I've had employees from every sort of company dig through tip jars to pull out the $2 bills, shiny $1 coins and half dollars I tend to tip with and replace them with their own "mundane" money. I think I might try popping one or two of these in their tip jars to see if that can garner future "at the register" purchases. 'Might be enough to intrigue them.
I might also see about sending letters to some of the corporate offices of the larger businesses in town and pitch it to them as a local currency. A number of corporations accepted BerkShares after similar explanations.
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Pillar of the Community
614 Posts |
If you want me too, I could be one of your redistribution centers so if you want my address feel free to pm me! I live in Fair Lawn, NJ!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
@tzarmarko - Hey, if this actually gets off the ground, we'll see. :-)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
Ok, now that that silly GoDaddy hack is over with, I'm going to take inventory of the software I've written so far for value tracking, and I think I'm going to start uploading verification images. I might need a few of you folks who have smartphones capable of reading QR codes to test some things out for me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
917 Posts |
I just found this thread I really like this idea. Very cool Steve. If you need a tester I have a smartphone that reads the QR codes.
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Valued Member
United States
123 Posts |
So how can I get a hold of a few of these cards for myself :)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
I'm workin' on that steadily, honest. :-)
I would have had something out this week, but, I'm investigating a better way to do the QR codes and if that pans out, I'll start making some for others. :-)
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Replies: 136 / Views: 14,143 |
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Posted 09/07/2012 5:50 pm
