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I had a custom coin order recently put on my desk that had a super-imposed image on it. What is super-imposing? Quite simply it’s the overlaying to two images on top of each other and the top image opacity is adjusted so the back image is still visible.

There are two ways to accomplish this on a custom coin design. One would be lenticular printing where you have two or more images that display individually when you turn the piece one way or the other. I’m sure most of you have seen this type of printing before. Photographic printing is the second and final way to accomplish such a finished product. Photographic printing is exactly what it sounds like. It’s essentially a photograph or image printed onto a sticker and adhered to the coin, covered with epoxy to add a layer of protection.

Why can’t this be accomplished in a more traditional way? The reason is because we can’t adjust the opacity on a solid object such as a coin or medallion. If something is on the coin design then it’s on the coin. There is NO 50 percent opacity adjustment on a design element unless it’s photographic or lenticular printing.

I’m not one to ever stymie creativity but there are recommendations I make based on my years of experience as a coin making company owner and graphic designer. The reality is that a custom coin design can look great when viewing it at 10 or 20 times actual size on a computer monitor but the true test is when the design is reduced down to actual size and reviewed objectively.

Another issue with viewing a custom coin design in a very large scale is that you may be misled into believing certain areas can be painted when in reality they may actually be too small to paint. The reason is because walls of metal must be placed around everything that will be painted in a traditional sense of the word. Walls of metal like the black outlines in a coloring book serve two purposes, they contain and separate paint colors. The only coloring method that can be used in the absence of raised metal walls is silk-screening. Silk-screening requires epoxy and carries an additional cost.