Download this thingThe trouble with coins is that we tend to spend them. No matter how often we may see a coin in our hand and thing Right, that will be perfect for when I go to the supermarket later today, the temptation just to hand the thing over to the first shopkeeper who puts out his hand is overwhelming.
Thingiverse isn’t short of the odd trolley token, of course, and it’s just about the simplest tool that you can design and print yourself. Even the most basic CAD software will be able to knock out a short cylinder to the required size.
But a couple of extra features mark out this design, from Artem Mosienko. The most obvious is the clever holder, which is designed to fit neatly onto your keyring. It’s an ingenious construction, which prints entirely without support. The solid half-moon base holds it rigid, while there’s just enough spring in the lipped wall to both stop the token from falling out of the top, and to prevent it from slipping from the device when it’s in your pocket.
The second feature, of course, is the fact that this is about as stripped-down as a token can get. It’s also an attractive object, and that’s not something that can often be said about a trolley token.
OK, this may not be an earth-shattering piece of design, and it won’t push any boundaries of what can be printed, but it’s an intelligent, well thought-out and immaculately executed object that fulfils its purpose precisely. Very fine work.