To say the military loves its challenge coin culture is an understatement. Chances are, if you spend any amount of time in the service, you’ll find you’ve accumulated a drawer full of them. There’s an entire cottage industry that does nothing but make displays for them; the same goes for places that make custom challenge coins. 

Challenge Coin Culture

Military coins are, at least in today’s military, an integral part of unit, branch, and service culture.

There are many reasons for this. While they are fun to collect and display, they can also be part of a much deeper connection to others in your family, your tribe, and your community. I want to present you with some ideas on how anyone, military or civilian, can get involved in the challenge coin tradition in a way that coan enrich their life.

As for history, I’ll leave it to others to educate you on the origins of this tradition and let you debate whether it goes back to the Romans or a wealthy WWI pilot caught behind enemy lines.

There are just a few of the many reasons why you might receive a coin in today’s military: 

• Change of command
• Superior performance in a field exercise, a formal school or training evolution, on a physical fitness test, etc. 
• Appreciation or recognition from a separate unit or even branch of service you are supporting (my most treasured).
• Participation in a deployment or assignment to a base, a Task Force, a named Operation, or a significant Exercise.
• Recognition by a Senior Somebody from/for Somewhere (a commander, the CENTCOM NCOIC, even POTUS).
• Assorted Ad-hocery. Heck, I got one for serving as the driver of some high-ranking brass in town for a function.

This actually serves as a pretty good list of non-martial use cases we can apply to coins as well: Leadership, excellence, appreciation, group cohesiveness, and a plain old “thank you”.

Let’s dive into some examples of where you might leverage coin culture to enhance your life, and where to find coins to use. This second point, I’ll break it into two broad categories: pre-existing designs and custom work.

Off-the-Shelf Challenge Coins

The first option is to buy an existing design and standardize around it. Distributing these during a ceremony can strengthen bonds within a group and serve as a reminder of your shared values. For example, I was part of a small men’s prayer group, and after about a year of dedicated meetings, I bought us all the coin you see below.

Guys like tangible stuff that we can carry, wallets, lighters, knives…and coins.

The phrase “Iron sharpens iron” from Proverbs 27:17 was the basis for the support and accountability we had built together in our weekly lunch meetings.

Religion not your thing? That’s cool, what about something like this for your workout buddies the next time you all hit a new PR in your garage gym:

Another example of the great pre-existing coin designs you can incorporate into your use case.

Coin culture can also work even within your own family. Our family’s official adopted motto is “The obstacle is the way”, and I work daily to build grit in my kids. We often put it another way when we say, “This family does hard things”. As part of my planned rites of passage for them, I have purchased and set aside a coin for each of them with this message.

They will earn this coin by demonstrating this core family value, and just like that, a family heirloom is born. My own personal coin will perhaps one day be inherited by one of their children.

Family motto coins are stored away in an ammo can, along with the other items my boys will earn as they complete rites of passage on their way to manhood

If you really want to go budget, you and your group could all carry something as simple but uncommon as wheat pennies from the same year. It could be quarters from the year you all graduated something together…unless it was pre-1965, in which case the preppers are hoarding all of them for their 90% silver content. The point is, it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to be meaningful.

Often, the presentation of the coin is as important as the coin itself. I won’t go too much into detail here about ways to do this; I do provide one example below. Whatever you do, though, add some amount of ceremony to it, talk about what the coin symbolizes, how it was earned, and what is expected of the holder going forward.

Custom Coins: Purpose-Made Designs

For those with the budget, having your own custom coin made can bring a whole new level of recognition and esprit de corps. A good friend of mine who also happens to be one of the best firearms instructors I know had a batch made up for his student who could pass “The Test”.

This is a pistol shooting drill run from a ready position with 10 shots, at 10 yards, in 10 seconds, all in the black of a B-8 target. You shoot this test cold (in other words, the first trigger pull of the day) to evaluate what skill level you’re walking around with. While still a challenge now, this standard was deceptively hard back in the days before red dot-equipped Staccato XCs.

Being presented with this coin immediately after earning it, in front of a group of men you have been training with, was a feat we all aspired to. In this case, the instructor chose to make only one batch, and each coin was serialized. So, earning a coin in what amounts to a sort of OG club made this extra special.

You could even have these made in a precious metal like silver, so they would have an intrinsic value in addition to a personal one. You’re allowed to have fun with this, too. I mean, my last deployment unit coin had a built-in bottle opener.

If you are going to use your coin for “challenges” at the bar, it might as well have a bottle opener built in.

If I had my own business, I would strongly consider having some made for my best customers, top employees, or both. This would be a way to say thank you, and who really needs another tumbler, coffee mug, or koozie?

Putting the Challenge in “Challenge Coin”

Alright, you found the right coin, you nailed the presentation. What the heck do you do with it after that? On the military side, because soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines (and Coasties, and now Guardians) are involved, you know they were going to find a way to make this about drinking. Here, the concept of the “challenge coin” was born.

The idea is that everyone should carry their coins (typically in their current unit) with them at all times. When someone produces their coin at the bar, all others must respond in kind. Anyone without their coin buys drinks. If by some miracle everyone has theirs, then the original challenger gets his bet called and is the one picking up the tab.

Obviously, the above example could work for civilians, but it doesn’t have to be about drinking your face off on Friday night. You could challenge your workout buddies to produce the group coin at the next BBQ, and the loser has to do 50 burpees. Maybe you only want everyone to bring them out when you present a coin to a new member in a show of solidarity.

It’s your thing, make it what you want, but don’t just tuck them in a drawer somewhere and forget about them.

Coin culture is about using them!

Some things go together. Men like to carry things we can feel, those weighty assurances that anchor us to a place and time even while aiding and inspiring us to adventure.

Some things go together. Men like to carry things we can feel, those weighty assurances that anchor us to a place and time even while aiding and inspiring us to adventure.

Final Thoughts

In case it isn’t clear yet, coins say “thank you”, and “I value you” just as much as they say, “you’re one of us”.

In the bulleted list at the top, I mentioned that receiving coins from other organizations resulted in some of my most treasured pieces.

Let’s face it, in some units, everyone gets a coin like a “participation trophy”. In many places, perhaps most places, you can just buy challenge coins at the PX, MCX, NEX, BX, CGX, or other AAFES and AAFES-like places. They’re even available off-base sometimes.

However, for another group to present you with one means you did something to earn it.

The coin I received from the Republic of Korea Special Forces unit at the end of my time in Korea, and another coin from the Ranger Regiment I worked with in Eastern Afghanistan, remind me that those I admired appreciated my work as well.

Imagine how a coin freely given to someone in your life could impact them. There is no telling how a particular coin and its message may be received. 

You can’t go wrong whether you pick up someone else’s creation or build your own from scratch. In a world that has lost touch with rites of passage and where the digital has replaced the analog, coins can bring back a sense of human connection.

They remind us of what we are a part of when we receive them, we strengthen our bonds when we give them, and we are reminded of our values every time we look at them. I’m not sure what else can do that for often less than $25 these days.

If you are looking for a way to recognize those friends and family in your life who have helped with your faith, fitness, or friendship, I highly recommend dipping your toe into coin culture.