Front: “I Made Mistakes · Mistakes Made Me”
Back: “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger”
At a glance
- Theme: owning your failures and growing from them
- Good for: a big mistake, a second chance, a comeback, a hard lesson learned
- Gift for: a mentor, someone rebuilding, a friend who learned the hard way, a fellow Stoic
- Finishes: Antique Silver (brass alloy), Antique Bronze (brass alloy)
- Size: 39 mm, about 1 oz, die struck in the USA
The meaning
Everyone makes mistakes. The difference is what you do with them. The front of this coin owns them without shame: I made mistakes, and those mistakes made me. Wisdom is mostly experience that hurt at the time.
The back is Friedrich Nietzsche's line from 1888, now one of the best known sayings in the world: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
The design
The front shows a roaring tiger, front and center, with the two lines around it. The tiger carries its scars and stripes in plain sight. The back sets Nietzsche's line at the center of a sunburst, inside a border of waves.
On good days and hard days
- On good days, it reminds you that the lessons from past mistakes are part of today's success.
- On hard days, when you fail or make a mistake, it turns the moment into a lesson: mistakes made me, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Carry it
Hold it when you are tempted to hide a mistake instead of learning from it. One customer gave one away as a gift and kept two for themselves, joking that you can never have too much wisdom in your pocket.
Give it
It is a thoughtful gift for someone on a second chance: back from a failed business, a bad year or a decision they regret. It also suits a mentor who turned their own mistakes into advice for others. Customers call it a perfect gift for a fellow Stoic.
Specs
- Diameter: 1.54 in (39 mm), about the size of a silver dollar
- Thickness: 2.7 mm
- Weight: about 1 oz (28 g)
- Material: brass alloy (Antique Silver, Antique Bronze)
- Made: die struck, minted in the USA
- Each coin is antiqued with a special patina so it looks like it has already been in circulation. The patina never settles the same way twice, so no two coins look exactly alike. Small variations in color and shading are normal, and they are what make your coin one of a kind.
Questions
Who said “what doesn't kill you makes you stronger”?
Friedrich Nietzsche, in Twilight of the Idols (1888): what does not kill me makes me stronger.
What is a good gift for someone learning from a big mistake?
Something that says the mistake is not the end of the story. This coin turns it into the beginning of wisdom.
Why a tiger?
It stands for courage and strength earned the hard way, scars included.
Other coins you might like
- Phoenix Coin: starting over after something ended
- Amor Fati Coin: make use of what happened
- Know Thyself Coin: the beginning of all wisdom
- Tenacity Coin: losing is not quitting
Care: keep it dry and wipe it with a soft cloth. No polishing needed; the aged finish is part of the look.
Original design by EDC Reminder Coins, protected by copyright. We don't take custom orders.