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1835
The Foundation is Laid
In 1835, the United States' public debt was $0 for the only time in history. The first assassination attempt against a United States President (Andrew Jackson) took place. The Great Fire of New York destroyed 800 buildings (including the New York Stock Exchange). People did not have much faith in US Currency at the time. This led to the founding of a private mint called Z. Bisbee & Son – which eventually became The Osborne Coinage Company – now known as America’s Oldest Private Mint.
1860 -1864
Over the past 200 plus years, Osborne Coinage has served The United States, its people and its presidents as a custom coin manufacturer. In 1860, when Illinois Senator Abraham Lincoln decided to run for president, the company provided him with inexpensive campaign coins to give away during his campaigns in both 1860 and 1864. Both sets of dies are still in our die vault today. In 2025, Osborne partnered with GovMint to use the 1860 Lincoln dies to strike 860, .999 solid gold medals. The cracked die was encircled in a specifically designed collar to prevent it from exploding when it was struck. This die will be donated to the Smithsonian Museum as an important part of American history. Osborne also made political coins for eight other presidential campaigns including Ulysses Grant and Franklin Roosevelt.
1860 -1864
1892
The company based itself in the heart of Cincinnati and started producing gold and brass coins early on, adding lightweight and modern aluminum to their product line in 1892.
1900
1923-1930's
Coal mines and lumber mills came to Osborne Coinage (known at the time as The Osborne Register Company) in the early 1900s to purchase scrip – money used to pay employees and accepted at company stores. Known as ORCO Scrip, the counterfeit-resistant coins were specific to a certain coal mine or mill and did not have value anywhere else. The Osborne Register Company also patented a machine for issuing and recording trade check credits.
1923-1930's
September 1, 1939
During World War II, the Office of Price Commission asked Osborne Coinage to make food ration tokens. With more than 1,000 skilled employees (interestingly, Osborne supplemented its workforce with married women between the ages of twenty-five and fifty-five) working 24 hour shifts, the company manufactured 5 billion red and blue fiber tokens, as many as 80 million a day, to make change for ration stamps, thus saving coinage metals for the war effort. Osborne also made parachute carabiners out of the same factory.
1950's
Specialty Markets
Osborne Coinage entered the Ad Specialty market in the 1950’s and is the leading producer of specialty advertising coins and coins used for consumer and business to business premiums. Our unique coins are used as awards, commemoratives, fund-raisers, redemption vehicles, sports schedules, and in an infinite number of other ways.
During the 1990's
Osborne was proud to partner with some of America’s most recognized corporations on high-volume, widely beloved programs. These collaborations included the Shell President program, General Mills cereal box prizes, and collectible coin series for Kenner’s iconic toy lines. For Kenner, Osborne struck coins for both the Starting Lineup sports figures and the groundbreaking Star Wars action figure line. The Star Wars Power of the Force promotion featured finely detailed coins packaged with characters like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader — transforming toys into treasured collectibles. Today, these pieces are considered a blend of numismatic craftsmanship and pop-culture history, showcasing Osborne’s ability to bring mass-market excitement to minting. They are also HIGHLY collectible!
During the 1990's
1998
By adding more large-diameter production presses, Osborne Coinage was able to enter the rapidly growing casino token market sparked by riverboat gaming legalization in Mississippi and Illinois. In a highly successful partnership with technology leader IDX Inc., the X-Mark Optical Security System was perfected and took off in gaming markets around the world. The X-Mark System stopped counterfeiting by allowing a casino’s games to only accept their own tokens. In 1998, Ontario Canada’s gaming commission required that there be no crossplay between any of its 22 casinos and the X-Mark system delivered. The program was such a success that casinos from as far away as Argentina and Greece came to Osborne for X-Mark tokens for their casinos. Upwards of 250,000,000 tokens were ordered by casinos from all over the world.
The casino gaming market was short-lived as operators switched to cashless ticket systems, thus making tokens obsolete. Moving with the times, Osborne Coinage began offering secure token destruction services to casinos. Tokens were chopped up on mobile rigs that traveled out to casinos across the country and the metal was recycled into new products.
Additional Milestones:
Making more transportation tokens than any other private mint (exceeding the 100 million tokens used by the New York subway system). We are still, today, the largest producer of Mardi Gras doubloons in the country.
Additional Milestones:
2000
2003
Recognizing the growing demand for durable, reliable tokens, Osborne launched TokensDirect to give businesses bulk access direct from the manufacturer — no middleman, no delays. With one of the widest selections in the industry, TokensDirect offers stock and custom tokens in sizes from 0.800" to 1.125", many ready to ship immediately. These tokens are designed to deliver long-lasting performance, resist wear, and work seamlessly in most standard machines.
By targeting self-service car washes, laundromats, family entertainment centers, and other high-traffic industries, TokensDirect helps operators reduce costs, streamline operations, and build customer loyalty. Backed by Osborne’s 190 years of minting expertise, TokensDirect combines speed, quality, and value — making it the trusted choice for businesses nationwide.
2006
Osborne acquired its largest competitor, Roger Williams Mint, as well as its largest distributor, Van Brook of Lexington, KY. Osborne combined them into its TokensDirect division to become the top seller of arcade, FEC, laundromat, and carwash tokens in the world.
2006
International
Recently Osborne Coinage has focused on high-quality collectible coins, partnering with top consumer brands Franklin Mint and Danbury Mint. Through a joint venture with Canada’s own national mint, Osborne was chosen to produce a variety of circulating and non-circulating numismatic coins issued for countries around the world.
2018
In 2018, the Big Mac celebrated its 50th anniversary and Osborne was chosen to mint over 4 million coins that could be redeemed for a Big Mac around the world.
2018
2024
Osborne Coinage becomes part of Heimerle + Meule GmbH - now known as HM Precious Metals. As the American branch of HM, this partnership allows us to expand our offerings and increase our technical know-how to better serve our customers.
2023
A History of Excellence
Osborne Coinage Company continues to push forward with innovative design and top-quality craftsmanship.
Going through many trade names in history, from Z. Bisbee, Murdock, Osborne Register, and finally Osborne Coinage Co., the business has become a well-trusted name in the minting industry for almost 200 years. With 60,000 sq ft of manufacturing under one roof, our warehouse holds enough copper, brass, aluminum, silver, and specialty alloys to make more than 20,000,000 coin blanks. Our metal coils are purchased from US mills whenever possible. Our self-contained facility includes all engraving, die production and tool-making necessary to produce coins and tokens. With 3 blanking lines and coining presses from 100 to 1,200 tons, we can turn out as many as 600,000,000 coins and tokens a year.