What we do for you – Our services.
Landsharkz Copyright Statement – Please click here and read!
Our Services
Landsharkz.ca is a Geocaching.com authorized Canadian producer of trackable and non-trackable geocoins. If you want sensational artwork and outstanding coin quality, you have come to the right place! Our team of graphic arts and design professionals work with you to create your custom coin. Bring us your ideas, in text, artwork or concepts and we will make your geocoins a reality.
Why are we different or ‘What do you get for your money’? Landsharkz.ca offers varied services and are noted to be very different from many other coin production companies. Artwork and design are included in the prices quoted to you when we produce your coins. We create your coin design using Adobe Illustrator which is a professional graphic design program. We will take your ideas and suggest metal platings, production techniques and styles to make your coin stand out from all the other geocoins! After you approve our art, off it goes to the mint… but that’s not where our services end. When we send your art to the mint, we then work with the mint to ensure that your die art looks as close as possible to our art. We go back and forth with the mint, many times if necessary using Adobe Illustrator to graphically explain and show the mint areas where they need to make changes or improvements. Shapes must be correct, lines must be the thickness and depth that we requested (we know the factory limits), textures or finishes must be correctly identified, colours must be exact, and then when we feel it is perfect to our standards, we will send the mint’s die art to you to approve. Then the sample coins arrive and will discuss with you any edits to colours or finishes that we think will improve your coin further. When you receive your final coins there will be no nasty surprises and you will have something you will be very proud to display and share with others. A little tidbit… our clients will attest to the fact that we will often create samples for you, using the same dies, with different finishes or special effects that you weren’t expecting… it’s always fun to hear their reaction to these unexpected samples.
This became a geocoin! Can you guess which one?!
Coin Manufacturing Services: From artwork, to manufacturing, to sales, to distribution, we do it all. Professional artists, graphics designers, personal service and flexible pricing options make the difference. We pride ourselves in turning out only the best geocoins (and we’ll check your spelling too!).
Trackable Coins: We are an authorized geocoin manufacturer with geocaching.com. We can provide tracking numbers and coin activation services… everything you need to make your geocoin experience as easy as can be.
Coin Samples: When we produce your coin, we receive samples in a variety of finishes. We will send one of each sample to you to review and keep the remaining samples in our office as a reference. Occasionally we are asked to provide samples of our work to future clients and your coin sample may be used in that way. Our mint has asked us for permission to send a customer’s sample coin as an example of their workmanship and in this case we will also ask your permission first.
Pricing of Personal Geocoins: We offer flexible pricing options to help make your coin dreams a reality. Artwork and design are included in the prices quoted to you when we produce your coins. If you would like to us to design a custom signature item for you but you want to keep the costs down, please consider a run of full size non-trackable coins or smaller ‘Siggy Tags’. These are equally lovely and highly sought after, but are not trackable on geocaching.com.
Let us help you through the process: Call us before you get too far. We can help you create your art from your ideas, let you know what will and won’t work on a coin, help you choose colours, metal finishes, textures and more.
Contact us: To learn more about any of our services, contact Helen
Geocoins 101
If you’re thinking about having a personal coin made, this page will fill you in on some of the basics. We can guide you through the process, but it will help you if you are familiar with some of the following:
The Coins: The coins themselves are usually die struck brass with metal plating that gives the coin its finish. The whole process involves the following steps:
- Artwork is developed by you, or by us, for the coin. Even if you develop the art, modifications are usually required to enable the image to be adapted to coin manufacturing.
- Once the art is ready, it is sent to the mint where the mint artist re-draws the art in preparation to make the dies. This die-ready art is then sent back to us for approval, comments and edits.
- When the die-ready art is approved, the mint creates the dies that will be used to stamp the image onto the coin surface.
- Sample coins are made, painted and sent for approval prior to making the production run.
- Once the samples are approved, the coins are then produced en-mass.
Coins are usually minted in lots of 100 to 1000… the price per coin is cheaper if more coins are produced. Prices vary widely and will depend on size, shape, number of colours, metal finishes and quantities minted. We suggest that you wait to determine final metal finishes until you have seen the sample coins. Sometimes we ask for samples in other metal finishes that you hadn’t considered and they are a very pleasant surprise!
Tracking Numbers and Icons: Geocoins can be made so they are trackable on geocaching.com. To make geocoins trackable, each coin must have a unique tracking number engraved on it. We purchase these numbers on your behalf, and have them engraved on the coins by the mint. Personal coins will have a PC#### number, Event coins can have an EV prefix, and association or regional coins can often have a custom two letter prefix of your choice. The coins cannot however be tracked until the individual coin owner enters an “activation code” into the geocaching.com website to enable the tracking for that particular coin. These activation codes can be retrieved from our website after a person buys one of your coins. Talk to us about custom activation codes for your coins.
Trackable geocoins can also have a custom icon associated with them (we design your custom icon as part of your production package). The icon will show on a geocacher’s profile page when they find one of your coins. In order to have a custom icon associated with your coin, you must purchase the icon from Groundspeak Inc.; we will do this on your behalf also. Custom icons are only permitted for coins with a minimum run of 50 (for personal coins). For smaller runs, you are welcome to use the Canadian Cacher icon or the American Cacher icon which we have purchased for our clients’ use. We will charge you a fraction of the regular icon fee for use of these icons.
Tracking number prices are set by Groundspeak Inc. and cost $1.50 (USD) per coin and an icon costs $150 (USD). If you are in Canada you will not pay GST on the tracking number and icon portion of the coin production costs.
If you would like more information, please ask.
