Company makes coins to show thanks for essential workers

When COVID-19 hit Colorado, Western Heritage Store was struggling. The family-owned business had been in operation since 1976, when it was founded by military veteran Pat Lynch while he was in the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service commissioned him to make key chains and buckles, and over time he expanded the company to make a range of metal products.

The store was poised to take on new customers this year, but when the pandemic arrived its revenue started to slow dramatically.

“We were in hot water for a while,” said Matthew Jackson, the store’s director of marketing and sales.

Jackson and the store’s president, Mike Lynch, started to think of something they could do to reach out to the community that would also help provide work for their 10 employees. They decided to create pewter coins inscribed with a message of thanks for medical professionals and other frontline workers during the pandemic.

The coins cost $3 apiece and can be ordered on the store’s website at westernheritagestore.com for people to give out to whomever they want. Jackson’s said the store has received numerous calls and emails from people sharing what they plan to do with their coins once their order has arrived.

“They’re really excited about getting these coins and handing them out to people they want to say thank you to,” he said.

The store received a flood of orders after being featured on FOX 31 on Tuesday. Within three hours of the segment airing, the store received orders for 1,000 coins, Jackson said.

“Our phones were ringing off the hook,” he said.

Since then, the store has been receiving orders pretty steadily, and has been able to make payroll with the income that’s coming in.

Eventually, Jackson said the store is hoping to partner with a large retailer such as Home Depot or Lowe’s so the coins can reach more people.

He feels the popularity of the coins embodies the character of Loveland and how eager people are to give back.

“That’s just the way we work as a community, we support one another through thick and thin,” Jackson said.

Sarah Sykes with Western Heritage Co. in Loveland looks over pewter appreciation coins after taking them out of a mold Thursday.

Western Heritage created these commemorative appreciation coins that people can purchase and give to health care workers and other frontline staff as a token of appreciation.