What the Heck is Going On Here?
At The Santa Barbara Mint we design coins to last forever on your shelf, and in your heart.
Our team has been designing and making jewelry, pins, and collectibles, mostly for the comic book marketplace, since 1995. You know them and may have some, the things that are cool to collect, either on your finger, on your shirt, or in your pocket. Modesty (and contractual obligations) prevent us from showing off and listing them here.
Our collectable coins or medals fall into the category of Exonumia.
Exonumia are numismatic items other than coins and paper money. This includes medals, tokens, badges, counter stamped coins, elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, challenge coins, tags, wooden nickels, and other similar items.
It is an aspect of numismatics and many coin collectors are also exonumists.
The noun exonumia is derived from two classical roots: exo, meaning "out-of" in Greek, and nummus, meaning "coin" in Latin, thus, "out[side]-of-[the category] coins". The equivalent British term, paranumismatica, may also be used.
The words exonumist and exonumia were coined in July 1960 by Russell Rulau, a recognized authority and author on the subject, and entered into Webster's Dictionary in 1965.
Wow, we explained a lot there. I hope you were taking notes. There's going to be a short quiz later on everything you learned today. All this knowledge could pay off for you on JEOPARDY someday.
Back to the cool stuff, Medals are coin-like artistic objects, typically with a commemorative purpose. They may be awarded for recognition of achievement or created for sale to commemorate individuals or events. They may be souvenirs, devotional, or purely artistic.
Exonumia collectors, like coin collectors, are attentive to condition and rarity, as well as to history, form and type. Exonumists may collect items by region, topic, type, shape or material.
Rarity is key for us. We like a "limited edition" to be truly limited. That's why our first coin release, The Hundred Acre Wood Series featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends, has a micro-production run of only 300 individually numbered pieces each.
Almost anything can be memorialized on a coin or medallion. We focus on making coins that will be loved by those that own them and want to pass them down to the ones they love.
Throughout all of history, coins are forever. (Sorry diamonds)
We are proud to be a Platinum Member of the American Numismatic Association.
If you have any questions, please use the Contact page or email us at santabarbaramint@gmail.com.
Thank you for visiting our website.
Kevin Cleary
Founder, Santa Barbara Mint
Santa Barbara Mint
730 Arcturus Ave. Unit #3
Oxnard, CA 93033-9063