Ultimate Collectors' Forums

For anyone else looking to bleed their bank accounts...Shire Post just started up their latest kickstarter for officially licensed Hobbit/LOTR coins!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/17 ... s-tm-and-t

As of right now (1:43 EST on 10/29), it's 24% funded...

Wow, they finally got the license, huh? I wonder what changed...

At any rate, this is great news. It also means these coins will become a little easier to find as right now they are very scarce on ebay and command high prices when they do show up. I shudder to think how much that exclusive Gondor penny is going to go for on its own. As I already have most of the current coins, I'm excited to see which new ones will come out for the Hobbit.

There are only a couple of LOTR coins I still want...any coin of Gondor and any coin of Hollin.
Otherwise, I am set.

And unless it's going to be in The Hobbit sets of coins, I didn't see the Cartwheel Axe of Thrain (Thrayne) offered.

Didn't know that Gondor penny is so hard to find and at such extreme high prices.

DS, that Gondor penny is new and exclusive to this kickstarter campaign and has never been available before (at least not in mithril form.) Also, it is limited to 125 pieces only so that's why it will be very rare and very expensive in the aftermarket.

Valkrist wrote:DS, that Gondor penny is new and exclusive to this kickstarter campaign and has never been available before (at least not in mithril form.) Also, it is limited to 125 pieces only so that's why it will be very rare and very expensive in the aftermarket.

Ok thanks for clearing that up Val.

I"m excited to see this KS go smoother than the Legendary Coin (Drawlab) KS I backed. That thing has been a debacle. Don't get me wrong, the coins are nice, but the chaos around getting them has been almost hysterical to watch unfold.

The licensing factor apparently has forced prices higher.
If by participating in the Kick-starter venture one gets a break (albeit slight) on cost, I'm guessing that when sales go public prices will be still higher.

When I bought the majority of my coins on ebay from Obi_wan (MD, USA) there were at least 8 coins in a set, sometimes 10 and even a "bonus" coin, and I usually didn't pay more than $45 plus a few dollars shipping.
Granted , the more limited coins, and ones made with silver or a chunk of copper (Cartwheel Axe) I paid a lot more per coin, but they number about 4 or 5 out of at least 2 dozen ME coins.

And, lo and behold, upon examining my collection I actually do have a silver tharni! ...now, if I could only recall when I bought it...
So that just leaves one of the Hollin leaf coins, which I may have to buy from the new issue.

All the decent incentives are gone, as in the cheaper packages that actually got you that new and rare Gondor penny (unsurprisingly,) and the higher up brackets are simply too expensive for a bunch of coins I mostly already have.

Now that they have the license, I assume this means they can use the proper ME names instead of the ones they had to come up with? Like Dal Tun instead of Dale Town? If so, I wonder if the new coins will be changed to reflect this or not. I doubt it as it would require new masters.

Yes, they can use place names from the books. Not allowed to use artwork from the books or movies

Idril wrote:Yes, they can use place names from the books. Not allowed to use artwork from the books or movies

That's good news indeed, but again, I highly doubt they will re-mint all the old coins with corrected names. Unless they continue to mint new ones with the old names, this is going to cause a discrepancy which will give rise to two very different sets of coins: old and new.

I did not examine the pics too closely on the Kickstarter page, but all this licensing talk got me wondering...is there some kind of hallmark/licensing symbol /logo on the new coins? (much like the Weta TM/hallmark tm on the inside of the gold One Ring replica).

I see no obvious markings on the original SP coins...at least not on the ones I have.
Even if Tom (Shire Post) doesn't want it, his licensing partner may.
And if so, that would definitely differentiate the old issue from the new.

I can't think of a better way to ruin these coins (or any other collectibles for that matter) than by placing a stupid licensing trademark on them. Such is the price one has to pay, alas.

Edit: which Hollin coin are you missing, Deimos? I'm sure you told me before but I don't remember. I have doubles of one of them, and am missing the silver one myself, winter I believe?

Valkrist wrote:...which Hollin coin are you missing, Deimos? I'm sure you told me before but I don't remember. I have doubles of one of them, and am missing the silver one myself, winter I believe?

I'm missing all of them!

But I am not a "complete-est" collector such as yourself and some others.
I am not looking for all four...one would be sufficient.
Don't misunderstand me...if someone offered me all 4 at an unbelievably low price, I would most certainly grab at that!

I got the impression from some listings that the cheapest ones were the copper and brass ones...one being the summer leaf and the other the autumn leaf, but I'm not sure which is which (brass for summer and copper for fall?).
Then the green spring leaf, then the most expensive one being the silver winter leaf.

And btw, I thought you had that silver leaf sale wrapped up....was waiting for you to post it on the "Latest Acquisition" thread.
When I didn't see anything I thought you just didn't have the time to do it, and besides, we all knew you had snagged it.
Guess that didn't happen...sorry to hear it as I know it is the last one you need.

So what have you got and what are you asking for them?

Yeah, it's either summer or autumn that I have two of. I was in on the auction for the winter one but someone sniped it at the last second.

Currently, I'm looking for the winter leaf, the cartwheel, and any Gondor coin. Also any mithril version of any coin.

I'll send you a PM regarding that Hollin coin.

Pretty close to breaking the last stretch goal.

I had to lower my backing amount when some rather large bills rolled up to my front door and kicked down my happiness. But I'm still grabbing The Nine! I'm hopeful to buy more later when they start selling them normally. Probably more pricey, but at least it'll be a little at a time...

Broke through the final stretch goal...Looks like most people will be getting 8 shire pennies and a Aragorn Coronation coin...

Kickstarter is almost at an end! This is the final push!

With 3 hours left to go we are CRAWLING toward 90k. 100k isn't going to happen, but 90? If a bunch of people scramble to make sure that IF the stretch goal is hit, they will get the free coin, we could very well see it happen. Fingers crossed!

Changed my mind and made a pledge with 90 minutes to go. It won't put it over to the next bracket, but I can say I did my part.

I just added $16 to my pledge so I can get the black brumby.

jnicktem wrote:I just added $16 to my pledge so I can get the black brumby.

I did the same.

Being a big Rohan fan and easily susceptible to peer pressure, I too sent along the extra for the Black Brumby. I'm curious to see what the cost of these coins/sets will be post-Kickstarter. I'd love to pick up extras of some for display purposes but couldn't afford it atm.

Well, I feel a bit of a dope. I thought you added extras post the campaign.

But - what customer service. They are allowing me to still get the coin by sending a paypal payment. So I'm getting the BB too.

Ok, I feel like a dope too because I don't understand how you can get the Black Brushy coin when the campaign didn't reach at least 90k, which is what was required to unlock. So how and what do you do to still be able to get it regardless, and what reward level must you have pledged previously?

I pledged level #3 and then added $16 to my pledge to get the BB. It now sounds like if you ask him you can just send a Paypal payment to add it to your order.

Ok, I will try that as my pledge level was #3 as well, but I still don't see how that works or where it was mentioned that an additional $16 would get you the Brumby

Still confused.

Some people asked about it in the comments section on the Kickstarter. At least that's how I figured it out.

I see. Could you please post the link to the particular comments section that refers to this? Just want to make sure I get this right.

Thanks, Nick.

Here is a comment from Shire Post:

"...if you send a direct paypal payment for $16 USD to Maringer@arkansas.net we can add one to your rewards."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/17 ... t/comments

I think I may have missed my chance. I sent the additional $16 this morning and not three hours later I got a shipping notice that my coins are on the way. I have no way of knowing if the BB made it on there in time since I got no acknowledgment that the extra money was received other than the PayPal confirmation. I guess if the BB did not make it, I will have to contact him and see if he will ship it separately.

You might have to toss the extra shipping on. I had the same problem, Val (thought I haven't gotten a shipping notice yet). They seem to be really happy with the turnout and incredibly good with Kickstarter, so I wouldn't be surprised if they double checked Paypal and added it in before sending them out the door. I haven't received any shipping notice yet and I got my survey in around 5ish yesterday morning, so who knows?

It's crazy how organized and efficient Shire Post is. The other coin campaign I backed all the way back in the summer STILL hasn't come through for all of their backers.

Yes, they do seem very organized and efficient and that is why I will wait to see what I receive before I contact them. If the BB is not there, I don't mind paying a couple of extra bucks for a single coin to be mailed out. I got my survey about one hour after the campaign ended. Has he given any indication when these coins will be available for purchase from his website?

Gee - they are organised.

Anyway Val, if you do have to pay to have the one coin shipped, you might find this email they send me interesting.



Kickstarter
Shire Post Mint says:
Some of you have asked about add-ons. We are not advertising publicly so we can streamline shipping to get these rewards out ASAP, but since you have pledged so much, we want to let you know prices if you want to add coins onto your rewards. These will be available after the Kickstarter ends.
Add on list:
Cloth bag with Shire Post Mint stamp - $5
Real leather bag (as included in the Pony Purse) - US BACKERS ONLY - $30
Gondor Crown in nickel-silver - $18
Gondor Penny in copper - $10
Oak Doubletree - $12
Bronze Haypenny - $10
Daler of New Dale in pure .999 silver - $100
Gondor Penny in pure .999 silver - $20
Red Hand of Saruman - $10
Black Brumby - $16
The Hobbit set #1 (same as in reward level #1) - $25
Price per piece for Shire coins:
-Shire Farthing - $7
-Shire Haypenny - $8
-Shire Penny - $10
-Shire Tuppence - $12
-Shire Thrup’ny - $15
-Shire Sixpence - $20
-Shire Shilling - $26
-Shire Two Shilling - $40
The Lord of the Rings Set (reward #2) - $40
Price per piece:
-Axe of Durin - $16
-Fall leaf of Holly - $16
-Eye of Mordor - $16
-Brumby penny - $12
-Dale Penny - $10

Thanks, Idril. That is certainly far more extensive than I had originally thought, and it extends far beyond the Black Brumby. Should I assume this list was kept somewhat under wraps because these prices for Kickstarter backers are cheaper than what these coins will eventually retail for? Because if so, then I definitely want to expand my add-on list. I also wonder if some of the other original coins are going to make a comeback, like the Cartwheel of Thrain and the other three Hollin coins. If yes, that is really going to sink the eBay aftermarket, which is a good thing for us latecomers.

Just got these in today!

Nice! I'm jealous... Tracking info said mine were to be delivered today, but they ended up getting delayed somewhere.

That's too bad! I hate delivery delays!

Received mine yesterday...I have to say these things are fantastic. I have only two comments (note: not complaints). One is that they are much lighter than I was expecting. The other is that most coins have a freshly minted look to them, and why shouldn't they, while some look used. As I prefer the used look for coins, I'm handling them as much as possible to try and get that look to them. I highly recommend them, though! I'm definitely planning on picking up any I missed out on when they go for sale, and possibly picking up a few of the ones I already have.

I remember in the old run, many of these coins were described as being either worm or newly minted as part of their descriptors. This allowed people to own the coins in two different conditions, or stages of its life as currency. I think that's pretty neat and I see value as a collector to owning both. I do hope they mint all of the coins from the first previous sets so I can fill the gaps.

Nick and GW, did you guys get the Black Brumby? I see two Rohan coins in Nick's photo but neither seems dark enough to be the Black one. My coins are almost here, but as I've heard nothing from Tom about my additional donation being late, I have to assume the Brumby shipped with the rest. Fingers crossed.

I got the black brumby. I think the lighting is making it seem not as dark as it really is in that photo. It's a pretty smooth coin.

Val, Nick's right. The lighting makes it look brighter. It's definitely black. I'll try to take some comparison shots tomorrow morning.

Shire Post Mint just updated their site and added a few new-ish coins to boot!

Thanks for the heads up! Just got the elven leaf set!

Nice catch, GW! I was checking during the weeks following the Kickstarter, hoping new coins would show up, but they never did so I just stopped. They've been so busy cranking out tons of GoT coins that it seemed clear the LOTR resurgence had been a flash in the pan.

Getting myself one of the Gondor coins and the Elven leaf set for sure. I only need the Winter leaf but I've only ever seen it once on eBay and it got away on me. Best to get it over with now in the easiest way possible.

Second LOTR Kickstarter is up! Potential to get Mithril Gondor Crown coin! Get at it quick! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/17 ... escription

Thanks again for the heads up! Finally able to have a coin in mithril! Wish they would've had more than 5 early birds available so I could've gotten that penny. Oh well.

Ditto! I just saw the email, jumped in, but within a few scant minutes, the mithril penny was gone! Only five people, that's way too few. Still, got in on the 100 set for the limited mithril crown. Only 68 left now. Get if fast!

Edit: Whoa, scratch that! Between me hitting the submit button on my pledge and my confirmation email coming in with my backer number, there are only 44 left!!! I am backer 56, not 32! Man, these things are flying fast.

Wow! I was backer 19. I think it was 96 left when I opened the page up.
I really like the elven half moon coin.

I hope Buckeye, Deimos, and Nick see this in time.