When the University of Nebraska first reached out to us, they only needed one thing: presentation. They had a coin designed and ready for production, but they needed the final touches done right. After all, their coins were to be handed out by the school’s president to a very select few.
After finding us on the web and browsing our past projects gallery, the University knew that we could deliver a customized wooden display box without a problem. But they soon found out there was a problem.
We told the contacts at the University that we’d get exactly what they requested, but we’d need a coin to reference for size. Turns out, their coin was set to order, but they were not yet in hand. We told them that, without a physical sample, we could not guarantee a tight fit to the coin. Ordering custom boxes without a sample coin would result in a C- at best. We wanted an A+!
We informed the customer that when customizing a wooden display you always need a reference coin for sizing. Yes–the box could be cut to 2” to fit a 2” coin, but there is always a slight variation in size and thickness of a coin. Regardless of what manufacturer you use, a 1/16th of an inch or so in size difference may occur.
We then promised the University contacts that if they ordered both the coins and the boxes through us, that we could deliver all items on time for their event, as well as, ensure the proper sizing of their custom coins and boxes. They were thrilled!
But we didn’t stop there. We took a look at the design of the coin they sent us and informed them that by ordering through us, we could also provide a 3 dimensional coin design–not just a 2 dimensional version like they were planning on getting. This thrilled them yet again!
To production we went!
We added custom brass plates into the lids of each display box, and we made sure the clean 3D coins fit snugly into place beneath the president’s signature plate. We also added the University’s official lock-up on the outside of the box so that there was no mistaking the beauty of the box was made specifically for the University of Nebraska.
After having received up-front honesty from the C. Forbes team about coin production and presentation options, the university then decided they wanted to add a few more custom pieces to their order. In collaboration with the customer, our artist, and the manufacturer, we decided upon our favorite 3D design and then crafted a set of cufflinks. These jewelry pieces were added along side of the wooden coin boxes.
Take a look at the detail and beauty of these pieces in the short video below! And be sure to follow along on Facebook and Instagram for coverage of more custom projects like this one.