Knife maker Tom Maringer used his metal working skills to start engraving coins, using hand-engraved steel dies and pressing coins one at a time. Thus, Shire Post Mint was born and Tom has been minting custom coins ever since. His work caught the eye of George R. R. Martin who commissioned some coins for a new book called A Song of Fire and Ice, which became the hit HBO series "Game of Thrones." He and his family still maintain the mint, pressing, packing and shipping them all themselves, just as they would have hundreds of years ago.