Thnickels

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Retro web aesthetic and site design

  • Many commenters love the 1998-style design: static HTML, tiny fast-loading page, basic images, animated GIFs, and even hotlinked Wayback/Geocities assets.
  • The “Proudly built with FrontPage 98” footer triggers strong nostalgia; several recall school projects and early personal sites built with it.
  • Some argue this kind of quirky, personal site is “what the internet should be,” especially compared to modern bloated apps (Teams is used as a negative comparison).
  • There’s enthusiasm for a resurgence of static, hand-made websites (NeoCities, webrings) as an antidote to modern, homogenized UX.
  • Jokes riff on modern web buzzwords (“JIT edge hydration,” Rust SSR, LLM code assistants) contrasted with how simple the site actually is.

Creator, art project, and lore

  • Multiple commenters identify the project as part of a known surreal/absurdist online art scene, connecting it to similar “weird coin” concepts.
  • There’s some debate over which specific artist or persona is behind it; links to social posts and related projects support both overlap and ambiguity.
  • The site’s copy (e.g., “state of some art facility,” “powerful workhorse (me)”) is celebrated as part of the intentional character and worldbuilding.
  • An apparent appearance by “Theo” in the thread confirms sales are paused, hints at future thicker coins, international shipping, and jokingly offers trades of “thin coins” for thnickels.

Humor, puns, and easter eggs

  • Users highlight the hidden ASCII-art coin in the HTML comments and debate whether it’s an “emoticon,” ASCII art, or “emoticoin.”
  • Heavy punning around “thnickel,” “thickel,” “thicc,” “emothickon,” and “wide wampum” is widespread; most agree the chosen spelling is funnier and possibly name-based.
  • The mock-Latin motto sparks light grammatical nitpicking, with playful “Monty Python” Latin jokes.
  • Several relish the deliberately silly marketing angle (including foot imagery) as a sendup of contemporary online hustles.

Coins, violence, and self-defense tangents

  • A side thread debates whether holding a roll of coins meaningfully increases punching power: one commenter calls it an “urban legend,” others insist added mass clearly boosts impact for untrained punchers.
  • Boxing vs MMA safety is discussed: glove weight, sparring norms (e.g., 14oz gloves), the role of wraps, and notorious cases of tampered gloves.
  • Multiple comments stress that most people punch poorly and risk breaking their hands; recommendations emphasize running away (“use your sneakers”) or pushing with open hands instead of punching.

Tracking, tools, and browser hygiene

  • Some urge removing tracking parameters (Beehiiv IDs) from shared links and recommend extensions like ClearURLs, Firefox’s “Copy clean link,” or switching to Firefox/Brave.
  • There’s mild concern over extension permissions but reassurance based on Mozilla’s “Recommended” status.