The prop money will be used in historical scenes of the Old West with accuracy. The coins are also likely to be available for public purchase as collector's items to fans in SWEG™ (The Sundance Wives Entertainment Group) spin-off marketing.
The specially minted coins are accurate reproductions of the Old West coins necessary for close-up views for Sage Sweetwater's movie and television productions. The coins are die-struck legal reproductions of American coinage popular to the 1800s era. The mint company does business with HBO and The History Channel.
Minting is the process of transferring a design from a die onto a blank piece of metal. The manufacture of the dies commences with a sketch of the proposed design. A three-dimensional model of the design, several times larger than the finished coin, is then created in ‘Plaster of Paris’. Silicone rubber is then used to produce a ‘negative’ moulding of the plaster, which in turn is used to cast a ‘positive’ model of the design in epoxy resin.
The epoxy resin model is mounted on a Reducing Machine that traces the three-dimensional design and cuts a much smaller steel replica to the actual size required. This tool is normally called the Reduction Punch. A heat treatment process then follows to harden this tool.
A ‘master’ die is produced from the Reduction Punch using a cold forging process called hobbing. This is achieved by pressing the design into another piece of soft steel using very high forces in a hydraulic press. This master die is then hardened and used in the same way to produce a ‘positive’ tool called a hob or hub.
It is from this tool that the working dies are hobbed, machined to suit the coining press on a computer controlled lathe and hardened. Finally, an electro-plating process is used to deposit hard chromium on the surface of the die to reduce wear in the coining process and to extend the life of the dies. On average each working die produces 250 000 coins but some dies produce over one million coins.
The Mint also uses a state of the art process called Filtered Arc Deposition to deposit extremely hard and smooth coatings such as titanium nitride onto the surface of some dies.
Also, 1800s prop paper money will be printed for Sage Sweetwater's movie and television productions. An additional company prints paper bills for the movie and television industry including TV, Movies, Music Videos, Print Ads, and Commercials with the realistic look that register well on camera. Sage Sweetwater films and TV productions have plenty of money shots close-up.
The standard prop bundles measure the same size as real money and are printed on both sides with colors and graphics. The money is available in various denominations and come in stack prop bundle styles of $10,000.00 for standard $100.00 bill styles, $2,000 bundle for $20.00 bills. etc. The money is printed "Motion Picture Use Only" because it is illegal to print money.
The playing cards used in Sage Sweetwater's film and television productions will also be authentic cards used for the Old West era. Madam Blaze Starr: Whiskey and Sagebrush Truth in Eights and Aces! The Sundance Wives and New Year Money 2012! Bring it On!
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