PPB December 2019

“Bitcoins” for various customers. Now, Osborne Coinage offers token destruction services to its casino clients, where they send mobile rigs out to the casinos to destroy the tokens and transport the leftover metal to facilities to be recycled. In 2006, Osborne Coinage acquired its largest competitor, Roger Williams Mint, and its largest distributor, Van Brook of Lexington, Kentucky, which allowed for the creation of Osborne Coinage’s TokensDirect division, which now produces tokens for use at parking facilities, carwashes, laundromats, family entertainment centers— including Chuck E. Cheese— amusement parks, arcades and in toy vending machines. In a more recent campaign, Osborne Coinage partnered with McDonald’s in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its iconic Big Mac. The intent was to build buzz around the milestone, as the Big Mac had lost some of its relevancy over the years. To do so, Osborne Coinage created 6.2 million MacCoins, which were distributed to McDonald’s locations in more than 50 countries, and could be collected, shared or redeemed for a complimentary Big Mac. The campaign delivered and turned into more media opportunities—and more than three billion impressions—such as a professional sports game kicked off in Argentina by flipping a MacCoin, and a press conference held in China to unveil the new “currency.” Osborne Coinage’s interest in recycling and reusing continues through its operations today. The company is housed in a 60,000-square-foot, self- contained facility, where it has been since the ’50s, and where all the engraving, die production and tool-making is done. Adding even more charm to its history, part of the facility is also an old tenement house. “On the third and fourth floors there are old washing machines and cast-iron claw- foot bathtubs,” says Olpp. All the electricity consumed by Osborne Coinage is 100-percent from renewable sources; 30 percent of it is generated from two rooftop solar panel arrays. The company creates its coin blanks using metal coils purchased fromU.S. mills, and all of the leftover scrap metal— which includes aluminum, copper, brass, nickel, silver and fine silver—is also recycled and returned to the mills, where they are re-rolled and re-used. Osbo rne Co i nage Co . About Osborne Coinage Co. Founding date: 1835 Principals: Jeff Stegman, CEO, and Todd Stegman, chief operating officer Most popular item: 1.54-inch verbronze (antique bronze) coin To celebrate the opening night of Cincinnati Music Hall following a multi-million- dollar re-brand, four coins were created as part of a multi-tier program. Pictured here is a memento card with a coin that mirrors the original coin Osborne Coinage made for Cincinnati Music Hall in 1877, which was distributed to symphony attendees on opening night. On this page, pictured top, left, is a colorized coin (the inverse image is shown on the top, left, of the following page), which was given to opening night attendees. One of the coins distributed to attendees during the opening night of the Cincinnati Music Hall, following a multi- million-dollar renovation. | DECEMBER 2019 | 129 CONNECT