Prop Coins: How to get many coins for little (real life) money? [closed]

Question

This related question on prop coins inspired me to revisit an old problem we're having at a fantasy LARP I'm co-organizing.

So far we have not yet found a currency which we can use throughout the LARP and which is cheap enough to be able to get our hands on a fairly large amount of coins.

We are around 100 players - enjoying many quests, treasures, bribes, merchant dealings, etc. There should be plenty of it - we need more than a couple of dozen coins.

But all I was able to find up to now seem to be some really nice high-quality manufacturers: the prices are just right out - normally in the order of magnitude of ~$1 per coin, which is ridiculous. The coins will be handed out to many players, they'll get lost, etc. - essentially we need to almost treat them as disposable.

Does somebody know of a way to create (possibly fantasy-looking) prop coins in large quantities (let's say some 300-500 at least) without spending a similar amount of real life money?

Wishlist: I was asked to specify further requirements - I realize some of these might clash hard with the low price I asked for, but still:

• Made from metal - Metal coins are just so much cooler than plastic ones. Also more durable.
• Some sort of denomination on the coin would be really sweet, that way we wouldn't have to explain this to players over and over every year (this is probably unrealistic given the low price we'd like to find).

Answer 1

Fantasy Coins

You've probably already seen the various fantasy coin vendors around the internet. They sell interesting fantasy coins, some do custom jobs. The problem is that these are far beyond the price you specified - if you want.

Some people produce plastic coins, these could be an alternative. Oriental Trading sells inexpensive, mass produced plastic coins.

Real Coins

Have you considered using real money? My bank allows me to purchase foreign currencies. About a year ago I purchased Icelandic krona, which are available as coins. For $10 (USD) I purchase about 1,000 krona (ISK). For reference, the smallest coin (1 KR) is slightly larger than a penny.

As an extra plus, ISK also fit a maritime realm perfectly:

Purchasing Foreign Currency

You can purchase foreign currencies at any bank that offers a foreign currency exchange. There are also a number of online companies that offer currency exchange services without being a bank.

My experience is limited to using a bank. You should check with your bank regarding their policies on currency exchange. Credit unions or smaller banks might not offer this service. My bank is a large, national company with a location in Kansas City, is capable of getting many foreign currencies within a couple weeks. Common currencies (Mexican pesos, Euros) can be purchased in the branch.

Travelex is an online foreign exchange others have recommended to me for international travel. They deliver, and the minimum order is only $50. You can find many other similar services by searching for "currency exchange".

Answer 2

In my mind, a good LARP coin should have the following characteristics :

• Heavy : it should at least feel like metal coins in your pouch
• Metal : it should sound like coins
• Cheap : LARPs are costly enough to run as it is...
• Easily replaceable : you'll lose some eventually, and if they are custom order and take 6-8 weeks to arrive, you might not be able to procure more before the end of the LARP season
• Long lived : If your LARP is not a one-shot thing, but rather taking place over a few events each year, the coins should last for many such events unless they are lost

Over the years, we've used many different things for LARP coins. In the end, we settled on good old washers.

The flat ones, especially, can be found in many different colours and sizes that are more than adequate for fantasy coinage. In most hardware stores, you should be able to buy them in bulk for a reasonable price.

If the colours don't match your idea of what gold/silver/copper should look like, you can use metallic spray paint to enhance the visual appeal of your coinage.

Personally, I'd recommend painting them anyways, as it becomes a lot more trouble for people to mint "counterfeit" money before coming to your LARP, since they can't just buy them at Home Depot without additional effort. It's never been an issue for us, however.

In general, LARP organizations collect the prop coins at the end of each event and note the amount for each player, so an identical amount can be returned to the players the next time they come. If your group hosts LARPs taking place in different settings with a few overlapping players, it is possible to paint the coins in different colours from one setting to another. That way, currency obtained in one setting cannot be used in another, making it less likely that the players will hoard their riches from one event to the other.

Answer 3

I've used these prop coins in my tabletop role-playing games. They're lightweight and disposable but nonetheless durable and have held up for years albeit with some wear (the paint tends to flake a little when abused). They're even about the correct size (a little larger than a quarter but smaller than a half-dollar).

144 cost $5.95 from this supplier.

Answer 4

You're probably looking for "Mardi Gras coins". They cost less than $5/gross. Here's one of the first Google results I got, though you may want to look around for different æsthetic options.

Answer 5

I use plastic coins that came from Pirate playsets from a $2 store. The kits came with (if I recall correctly) some coins, some gems, an eyepatch and a hook.

While doing a web search to find pictures for this answer, I came across a couple of links that might help.

• Ebay search for pirate playsets.
• Pirate jewellery.
• Pirate coins.

I've also played in games where we used old coins. For example, New Zealand got rid of 1c and 2c coins many years ago, so we used those in a LARP game. It was surprising how many of us had old coins squirreled away in our houses and cars.

Answer 6

I've actually been thinking about this exact thing for a while now (my daughter wanted a pirate themed birthday party). One option I found was game tokens, and I found a pretty decent online supplier: http://www.tokensdirect.com/.

Standard quality, several metals to choose from, and reasonable prices. You can even do custom designs for cheaper than I had expected (though still more expensive than you probably want). Only drawback is the quantities are in 1000's. So, the cheapest stock design I could find at $0.152/coin comes to $152 for 1000. Still not bad, and higher volume orders get cheaper per piece.

Answer 7

I've spent a few days researching coins for playing Heroquest, the very cheapest metal option I found was using stamping blanks, round discs used for dog collar tags, pendants etc. They usually have a tiny hole at the top for attaching to a jump ring, but if you can overlook that then these are even cheaper than washers, and much more traditionally 'coin-like', they come in various shapes, colours and sizes.

To give you an idea of costs I bought 250 (100 20mm 'antique bronze' for smaller denominations, and 150 28mm 'gold' for larger denominations) at a total cost of £18.39 including shipping (around $25US). The same number of washers was going to cost £25/$33.

The antique bronze were quite a bit cheaper than the gold, but the gold came in serious bulk, up to 3000 pieces for £225 ($300), obviously getting cheaper per piece the more you bought. Look for wholesale sellers on ebay, most people sell them individually or in packs of 2 at a massive mark up.

I could use the different colours and sizes alone to differentiate between coins, but I also bought a set of alphabet/number metal stamps to make things clearer, cost about £5 including shipping. You could even buy more decorative metal stamps to establish a theme if you wished.

Answer 8

Do you have an arcade, mini-golf, or bowling alley nearby? Video game tokens are usually available for 5¢ to 25¢ apiece, depending on the location. They tend to be excellent quality, made of real metal, with size and weight like a quarter. As long as the arcade in question does not close, you will be able to replenish your supply at the same price.

Answer 9

Well, if you're in the United States, the easiest and cheapest option for coppers and silvers would be to use pennies and nickels. .50–$2 a roll and available at any bank (or even the supermarket).

For goldtone, in real metal, search Ebay for "pachislo (coins,tokens)" (the goldtone ones) or "vintage Mardi Gras doubloons" (aluminum, not plastic, and bulk lots are generally all sorts of colors). They're lightweight but clink satisfactorily.

I recommend you tell players to bring their own pennies and nickels, while you supply the "gold" —that way it'll be even more special!

The PCs, after all, will only be carrying their spending cash around— the rest goes to customary expenses and should be stashed in a bank, or perhaps in the character's stronghold if s/he's powerful enough.

Don't forget, the henchmen will squawk 'til they're paid, the government will demand taxes, and thieves and grifters are everywhere!

If you don't mind a stringing-hole at the top of the coin, you can also look for +coins (bellydance,"belly dance") or coin charms or even +stampings +coin.

Gasparillabeads.com has 50 Mardi Gras doubloons for around $6 plus shipping. You can do better on Ebay, though, just by waiting for the right auction. This would also give you the option to designate certain colors as even more esoteric in-game currency (purple is platinum?).

Answer 10

This site is advertising ten pounds of Mardi Gras doubloons for $29.99 plus shipping:

http://www.mardigrasdoubloons.com/

Around $42 including shipping if you're in the United States. They also note that it should be around 1,000 coins.

Answer 11

Just discovered a site called The Broken Token today. The site carries a few different styles, which means it can fit different themes or even just be different money for different areas. I have not purchased any of these, but they appear to be a decent scale, and the reviews seem happy with the quality. The primary downfall is the price, paying roughly a dollar a coin can build up quickly.