Stoic Virtues Key Tag

Front: “Temperance · Wisdom · Courage · Justice” · “The Cardinal Virtues”
Back: “Summum Bonum” (the highest good)

At a glance

• Theme: character, with the four virtues as a daily checklist
• Good for: a new role, a first car, leaving home, hard decisions
• Gift for: a graduate, a son or daughter leaving home, a coach or mentor, a reader of the Stoics
• Finish: Antique Bronze (brass alloy) with an antique patina, so each one is unique; key ring included
• Size: 39 mm, about 1 oz, die struck in the USA

The meaning

The Stoics named four virtues: wisdom, to know what matters; courage, to act on it when it is hard; justice, to treat people fairly; temperance, to keep yourself in check. Later writers called them the cardinal virtues, from the Latin cardo, a hinge, because everything else turns on them. Summum bonum means the highest good, and for the Stoics that was a life lived with virtue.

On good days and hard days

• On good days, it keeps you honest about how you won: with wisdom, courage, justice and temperance.
• On hard days, when a choice is hard, it gives you a checklist that never fails: which of the four virtues does this moment need?

Why a key tag

It puts the four virtues on the thing you touch first every morning. Pick up your keys, glance at the tag, and ask which of the four today will need. It carries the same artwork as the Stoic Virtues Coin: the four virtues set like the arms of a cross on the front, and a cracked marble bust of a bearded philosopher with Summum Bonum on the back.

Give it

It is a classic graduation gift, a send off for a son or daughter leaving home or joining the military, and a thank you for a coach or mentor who taught by example.

Specs

• Diameter: 1.54 in (39 mm)
• Thickness: 2.7 mm
• Weight: about 1 oz (28 g)
• Material: brass alloy, Antique Bronze finish
• Made: die struck, minted in the USA
• Each key tag 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 key tags look exactly alike. Small variations in color and shading are normal, and they are what make yours one of a kind.
• Key ring included

Questions

What are the four Stoic virtues?
Wisdom, courage, justice and temperance. The Stoics saw them as the only things good in themselves.

Is it a good graduation gift?
Yes. The four virtues are a lifelong checklist, and a key tag goes with them to college, a first job or a first car.

Is it the same design as the Stoic Virtues Coin?
Yes, the artwork is the same on both sides. The key tag simply adds a loop so it can hang from your keys.

Will my key tag look exactly like the photos?
Very close, but never identical. Each key tag is antiqued with a special patina that settles differently every time, so small variations in color and shading from the photos are normal. They are what make yours one of a kind.

Want it in your pocket instead? See the Stoic Virtues Coin.

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.