A beautiful memento with personal significance

Eclipse

A “Solar Eclipse” happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth that either fully or partially blocks the Sun’s light in some areas. This only happens occasionally, because the Moon doesn’t orbit in the exact same plane as the Sun and Earth do. The time when they are aligned is known as eclipse season, which happens twice a year.

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. People located in the centre of the Moon’s shadow when it hits Earth will experience a total eclipse. The sky will darken, as if it were dawn or dusk.  During a total solar eclipse, people outside the area covered by the Moon’s inner shadow see a partial solar eclipse.

There was a total solar eclipse which crossed the United States of America on April 8, 2024. The moon rose over the USA at 06:31 AM on that day and set at 19:49 (7:49 PM), making it the “New Moon” when it would otherwise not be visible at all.

Obverse

The obverse features the title “Total Solar Eclipse” around the top and the date “April 8 2024” around the bottom. The centre shows a map of the United States of America with the path of totality – where the total solar eclipse was visible from. The total solar eclipse was visible along a narrow track stretching from Texas to Maine. A partial eclipse was visible throughout all 48 contiguous U.S. states.

Reverse

The reverse shows Earth’s only moon which is a geographically (technically selenographically) correct 136,794,240:1 scale design of the surface texture of its near side in copper, with the surrounding solar corona struck in brass.

Edge

The medallion is 3.4mm thick with a reeded edge.

Packaging

This is not a sponsored post, I paid for the coin myself, but I wanted to shout out to Shire Post Mint for the excellent packaging. I bought several pieces, and they all came in one parcel with a wax “SP” seal.

The medallion itself came in a smaller, wax sealed package.

The inside has information about the coin, copied below:

Coin info: Solid copper and brass, 21.5g

1.26 in / 32.1 mm.

Press used: Mario DiMaio 500t at 75 tons.

› Total Solar Eclipse

This visually contrasting bi-metal coin commemorates the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse that spans North America.

One side features the path of totality across Earth. The obverse features the near side of Earth’s only moon which is a geographically (technically selenographically) correct 136,794,240:1 scale design of its surface texture. The surrounding solar corona is made from brass.

› Bi-metal Minting

An external brass ring is created with a punch press and two different diameters of steel die. The centre hole gets machined to fit the inner copper core. Once the core is in place the two blanks are struck simultaneously. This effectively locks them together through deformation, ensuring the two metals stay in place. This technically- demanding form of striking dates back to the 17th century.

Shire Post Mint is a small family-run coining mint located in West Fork, AR. Before a coin is minted, careful consideration is given to which metal and techniques we use to create them. We hope that our coins feel both familiar and foreign – as if they have been plucked from another time. We mint with traditional coining techniques as well as our own adapted minting methods. The designs are hand-engraved into steel dies, the dies are placed into a coin press, and the coins are pressed from solid metals such as: copper, iron, brass, bronze, nickel, stainless steel, silver, niobium, and mokume-gane. Gold is not used so as to avoid attracting dragons.

We hope you love our coins, The Shire Post Mint team.

The top-right shows an image of the moon with some of the prominent features:

This post is dedicated to my mum, who passed on April 8, 2024. We aren’t in the USA so wouldn’t have seen this eclipse in any case, but I remember our family always made a point of going outside to see special astronomical events such as eclipses, or Halley’s comet. As I post this, 12th May 2024, it is Mother’s Day here, so a special day to post this. And we also got to witness an Aurora in person last night. I think she would have loved it.