Do you or your students enjoy Game of Thrones (my third time through it), The Lord of the Rings, or the Labyrinth? How are these fantasy reads connected to the small enclave of West Fork, tucked away in the Arkansas Ozarks? How can your students turn their interests into a hobby business? If your students enjoy reading, chemistry, materials science, design, art, economics, or STEM, they may enjoy this tale of an accidental entrepreneur who produces coins that are sold around the globe. Ozarks at Large, a KUAF Public Radio magazine, produced this spellbinding story on the Shire Post Mint in West Fork enabling me to share our past visit to their production facility. PBS Startup features a video of Shire Post Mint at their earlier location in Springdale. These resources allow you to share the process, people, and story with your students. it might result in some cool holiday gifts too! Check out their website or their blog.
At one of our Entrepreneurship summer programs, the Bessie B. Moore Center and Economics Arkansas hosted Tom Maringer as our showcase entrepreneur. It was a moving experience watching Tom describe his feelings as he ran his fingers through the coins he created made of various metals representing fictional fantasy stories! Tom argued that all students should know and understand chemistry, a university course he taught. On a tour of this factory, we learned about his knowledge of metallurgy and it facilitated his coin production. From an early age Tom was interested in making fictional coins to help him connect to favorite books such as The Lord of the Rings. After purchasing a press and learning to make coins using traditional methods, he discovered that people wanted to buy them. Tom learned that you can get in trouble if you sell them without rights to do so – which he quickly corrected. If they coins represent a book, which is someone’s intellectual property rights, you must get permission. Tom’s passion for coin production resulted in a friendship with George R. R. Martin. Martin insisted that Shire Post Mint serve as the authorized coin producer for Song of Ice and Fire. And Tom claims he knows who will be left at the end of the Song of Ice and Fire series because he knows George’s favorite character!!
The Shire Post Mint website provides some great visuals and stories for your students if a field trip is not an option. Tom had to quit work in order to build the business as demand for fantasy and fun coins grew. Shire Post is a family run business. Helen Maringer is the Chief Executive Office and her brother Woody serves as Operations Manager. The above picture shows other family workers.
Learning the process of how coins were made throughout history and seeing the equipment Tom purchased as his hobby and company grew was fascinating. The process they use takes you back in time to early coins and their value based on the metal or the ruler. Today, Shire Post uses many of the past methods of production so the coins are more authentic. Using video, podcast, and website, students can ‘see‘ the design, engraving, blanking, minting, pressing, and finishing of the coins. Understanding the evolution of the press throughout time illustrates the benefits of new technologies. I, personally, like Tom’s first manual screw press that enabled him to make coins. The podcast gives a great description of how light enshrined the press when he found it tucked away in a garage. The electric screw press allowed them to produce 15 coins per minute. Other equipment enabled him to produce more or more efficiently produce different designs. The artists in your classes will enjoy the design process. Your STEM students will see how technology increases productivity.
Take your ‘kids’ on a fantasy coin tour virtually or in person. I invite (beg) you to share how you used the content in your class in the comments section. Ideas: Have a coin design competition for a book you are reading. Create an new Arkansas coin or one that represents the Buffalo River, the first national river. Determine what metals would be best for your coin. Calculate how many coins can be produced in an hour using the different machines. Locate competitors for fantasy design coins? Share with Shire Post your favorite fantasy novel as they are always looking for new ones.
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