Custom Army Coins

A Brief History of Army Challenge Coins

Like a lot of historical subjects, there are many different stories about the origins of the Army challenge coin. Some even claim that Roman emperors gave special coins to some of their legions to celebrate victories.

As for the United States Army, the tradition of challenge coins is believed to have begun in World War II with Office of Strategic Services personnel who were deployed in Nazi occupied France.

The coins  varied widely from custom jobs to simply a local coin used as a “bona fides” during a personal meeting to help verify a person’s identity. There would be specific aspects such as type of coin, date of the coin, etc. that were examined by each party. This helped prevent infiltration into the meeting by a spy who would have to have advance knowledge of the meeting time and place as well as what coin was to be presented.

There is another story about an American soldier scheduled to rendezvous with Philippine guerrillas during WWII. As the story goes, he carried a Philippine solid silver coin that was stamped on one side with the unit insignia. The coin was used to verify to the guerrillas that the soldier was their valid contact for the mission against the Japanese.

Once the story got out, many units created their own coins and started challenging each other to produce their unit’s coin on demand. Like many things in the military, this evolved into a game that involved buying drinks or performing silly stunts for a lost challenge. Check out more of the history of challenge coins here.

Today, custom challenge coins are presented to unit members and special visiting officials to show appreciation for their support, a job well done, boost morale, and to reward service members for going above and beyond their peers. Create your own custom challenge coin that will tell your unit’s story for generations to come!

How the Challenge Coin Game Works

1. Rules of the game must be provided to and explained to all new coin holders.

2. The challenge coin MUST be carried, or be within easy reach, at all times. You may be challenged to produce it anywhere, at any time. You are allowed four steps and one arm’s reach to access the coin, otherwise you will forfeit.

3. A challenger must state whether it is for a single drink or a round of drinks.

4. Failure by the person challenged to produce the coin in question, for any reason whatsoever, results in them owning a drink or round of drinks. The challenger must state which is at stake when they challenge. Once the offender has purchased the drink or round, they can’t be challenged again by the same person.

5. If everyone who is challenged manage to produce their coins, the challenger loses and must buy the drinks (or rounds) for everyone they challenged. This can be very expensive when challenging multiple people, so challenge wisely.

6. Under no circumstances can a coin be transferred to another in response to a challenge. If a coin holder gives their coin to another person, they have forfeited their rights to it and it now belongs to the person who received it. It must be freely given–for example, if a person places the coin down and another person picks it up to examine it, that is not considered giving and the examiner is honor-bound to place the coin back where they got it. The examiner can’t challenge while they hold another’s coin. If a coin is misplaced, the person who finds it may negotiate a “reasonable ransom”, when they return the member’s coin.

7. If a coin is lost, replacement is up to the individual who loses. A new coin should be acquired at the earliest opportunity — because losing a coin and not replacing it doesn’t relieve a member of his or her responsibilities. If others were to become aware of the loss,

8. There are no exceptions to the rules. They apply to individuals regardless of their state of dress or current assignment or activities. Four steps and an arms’ reach are allowed in retrieving the con..

9. A Coin is a Coin and must be produced as such. They are not to be converted into belt buckles, key chains, or necklaces. Coins worn in a pouch or other holder around the neck are valid.

10. The group of people who are given a coin should be controlled at all times. Giving a coin to just anyone is like opening a fraternity to the public. It is an honor to be given a custom challenge coin, let’s keep it that way. A coin that is awarded for meritorious service is of more personal value than a purchased coin.

11. The above rules apply to anyone who is worthy to be given or awarded your unit’s challenge coin, has a purchased coin, or is known to be a previous coin holder.

Building a Custom Army Challenge Coin

When deciding on how to build a custom army coin you should concentrate on what size, shape, plating, and general options you would like. We can build any coin from 1.5” on up. The most common coin is the 2” because it fits into the pocket and can be carried around easily. Nearly 40% of all the custom military coins we produce are 2″.

Army challenge coins 3” or more look great on display and are becoming more and more popular. We have seen an 18.5% growth over the last 3 years for the larger coins. If you are looking to produce a very unique Army unit coin having a custom shaped coin might be the way to go. Common ideas are having it shaped as your Army unit logo or in the shape of the country of your tour. One of most popular custom Army coin shape ordered are Dog Tag shaped coins.

Custom Army Challenge Coin Edging, Plating, and Special Options

Army units are as unique as its members and so are their choices in edging and plating options. The majority of Army coins we produce feature our straight edge, but we have several unique edging options unavailable at other coin companies. We recently introduced a Tank Tread edge option that has become very popular, and also feature Barb Wire Edge and Concertina Wire Edging options for MP units. We have many different plating options to get the right look and feel you are going for with your unit coin (including copper, silver, nickel, and gold), but the most popular for Army coins by far is Brass Plating. If you are looking for a First Sergeants challenge coin take a look at some of the coins we have produced with cutouts in our Army coin gallery.

In terms of special options, we would recommend Dual Plating. This technique blends two different plating options on the same coin to make a very striking coin and is the most popular special option for custom Army coins. Some Army units like to have their coins numbered and we provide this service as well. If you want to improve the visibility of the designs on your challenge coins, consider getting them sandblasted. Sandblasting a challenge coin, especially one with a naturally bright metal, tones down the plating’s brightness, which allows you to see a coin’s text and images more clearly. If you are going for something truly unique and special ask us about our Spinner coins. These coins are fun to play with and impressive to display. We recently made a grenade shaped coin with a removable pin which we were very proud of and one of the more interesting coins we have ever produced. If you can dream, we want to build it for you.

Custom Army Coins for Your Unit

We want to be your custom military coin maker and promise you will find our custom army coins have the best possible quality with the best possible price. We offer FREE design services and will not charge extra for additional proofs. We do provide FREE shipping and take great pride in our customer service. Give us a call or send us an email we would love to hear from you!

Custom Army Challenge Coin Quote

We can build any type of Army challenge coin you need or desire. It all starts with filling out the form below and we will get back to you within 48 hours to help you design the challenge coin you want.