Coining. What is that? Coining has many meanings, it could be linked to Coins, the feline entities from the comic; It could be tied to the metalworking practice, it could be tied to the production of coins, the medicinal practice of scraping therapy, coin counterfeiting, or many other things, its an oddly versatile term. So what do we mean by it?

When I was conceiving ideas for the writing of this comic I had begun to watch the shakespearean comedy of manners series Upstart Crow, a major inspiration for this series, especially in terms of the character designs present in the story with characters like Jashae, Alessia, Maebe, and early designs for Argent. In season 2, Episode 5 “Beware my Sting!” , William Shakespeare has a monologue boasting about the “Numerous phrases [he is] wont to coin.”

Did you catch it? There’s that word again: Coin. Shakespeare is “Coining” new phrases. This terminology originates from the idea of minting new coins, Argent’s name: Argent Edme Golding, is a reference to Silver, Copper, and Gold, the classic three currencies in games like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder. The Coining of Argent is a double meaning, in reference to “The Naming of Argent” and how he will change the world around him; and “The Minting of Argent”, in direct reference to actual coins. Barring any major spoilers, this title is in direct reference to the ending of the story. We love to hear your stories and look forward to your reaction at the time when the title’s true meanings are revealed to the world.

A bonus idea contributed by a famous director who just so happens to be one of our most active readers: Coining can also be in reference to Argent making a name for himself, as this is a coming of age story. Though as will become apparent: This isn’t just his journey or coming of age.

Over the months of planning this comic, I ended up with rather a lot of drawings related to the coins, despite the fact that they aren’t really that major, (contrary to popular belief the title is not connected to them). So I have taken this opportunity to share some of that art, as well as the names of the other coins:

The names are shown above with their respective coins: Moa, Melanie, Moroshko, Morgoth, Macareux, and Mern. The two adult coins are Almond and Marigold.

And now for a lot of illustrations. Don’t read to much into them, or do, that might be amusing.

Here we see the puffins of the puffin circus cosplaying major characters, I believe this is the first image of the entire main cast that has been shown yet, except the very early concept art on the Instagram.

this joke was originally suggested by a friend of ours, and I (ghehphth⊙) was sufficiently amused to draw it. On a whim I decided to try and draw the characters, since Ir!s was unavailable, and i think it came out alright.