For this week’s Mintage Monday, I want to talk about one of my all-time favorite games: Panamax.
I’m going to start by offering a fairly un-controversial opinion: the included coins are absolute trash.
They’re small, thin, light plastic, with visible sprue marks, and are ugly as sin. I would absolutely rather have chipboard coins than these monstrosities. (These are, incidentally, the same awful coins that came in the original version of Brass.) The problem with a game like Panamax is there’s a dearth of generic modern fake coinage. Everything you can get is typically historical, sci-fi, or fantasy themed.
Enter: PACHINKO TOKENS
Pachinko/pachislo tokens might be the best bang-for-your-buck fake coinage on the market. You can frequently find them on eBay for a fraction of a cent per coin, but you have to have – to paraphrase Grosse Pointe Blank – a certain thematic flexibility.
They are, however, a fantastic size and weight. They’re virtually identical in size to US quarters, and are easy to find in copper, silver (nickel), and gold (brass) finishes. Many are casino-themed (like the coppers I own), but many have a pseudo-American theme – my golds have an eagle and my silvers (not pictured here) have the Statue of Liberty.
Which makes them nearly perfect for a game like Panamax.
Pachinko tokens are a great generic fake coinage option for board games, and are my personal choice for games with a relatively modern real-world theme.
Thanks for joining me for another Mintage Monday!
CLICK HERE for the archive of previous Mintage Monday posts, and check back every Monday for more awesome metal coins you can add to your favorite board games!
