VOTING IS SOOOOOO TIGHT in the Steem Silver Round design competition!

Have YOU voted?

If not, I would be SUPER chuffed (aka: stoked, excited, thrilled) if you would consider voting for my design HERE.

^{Coin like rendering.}

^{Original Mock Up.}

Two years ago steem silver gold community member Hive account@sevinwilson had a brilliant idea! He suggested the community should design a one ounce silver round especially for Steemit. Designs were submitted. Votes were cast and the round was made. 1500 were minted and they sold like hot cakes. In 2018 the whole process was repeated. These rounds were specifically designed and selected by community members to capture the spirit of Steemit.

2017 and 2018 Rounds

^{Top round designed by Hive account@bearone, bottom round designed by Hive account@welshstacker}

This year marks the THIRD iteration of this .999 pure silver piece.

If you have a moment I would like to tell you about my design, and why I believe it captures the current spirit of our blockchain.

My round features phoenix rising from the ashes. Steem value has been low, hard fork 20 got us down, but as we all keep steeming ahead, the hope is the platform and Steem will rise to bigger and better things.

The words at the top of the round are from Seneca, a Roman philosopher/statesman. Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes homines. In English this translates to:

“As gold is tempered by fire, so strong men are tempered by suffering". The meaning is that in order to become pure gold, the original gold-bearing ore must go through the tempering process of fire; the analogy being that for a man strong in spirit, adversity and suffering are the tempering agents necessary to refine his character and bring out his true potential. Source

In the case of Steem and Steemit, there have been challenges, but ultimately our communities have become stronger as a result.☺️

There are currently three designs left in the competition. One submitted by Hive account@welshstscker - also a Phoenix! He and I weirdly and independently came up with the same idea! (I completed and shared mine FIRST before knowing Welshie was working on something similar). 😁 The other design is an intricate sea themed shield created by Hive account@edxserverus.

As Hive account@welshstacker has pointed out, the first Steem round had a water theme. The second round had and earth theme. It would be pretty cool if this year’s round highlighted another element - Fire. 🔥 ☺️

It would also be cool to feature a different artist/designer for each year’s round. I would be so honored if the Steemit community selected my design for 2019.