In 2018 I designed a coin to commemorate the 500th (or 440th, however you see it) anniversary of Sir Thomas Gresham’s life (1519-1579). From receiving unsought history lessons from my father about him (who is possibly Gresham’s biggest fangirl, as well as the reason I got roped into this project), to attending a fair few Gresham College lectures while in high school, to spotting him with wife in tow, completely unexpectedly once in the Rijksmuseum basement, it sometimes felt as though Thomas Gresham’s spirit haunted me. This project helped me put these fears to rest, as his soul seemed to be appeased by the coin, and I see less of him around these days.
This project involved using Adobe Illustrator to design the front and back of the coins, which were sent off to a coin pressing company that did all of the actual work. The result was a brass-colored coin of around 25mm diameter.
