Military challenge coins which are specially minted for a select few star performers, allow military organizations to show their gratitude towards military members who have illustrated the best of talents and the highest standards of service for the organizations.

More and more groups and institutions like to order and collect challenge coins now. But as a coin lover, how much do you know about the initial stories of challenge coins? There are three classical stories about military challenge coins you should know.

Unique Military Coins that Saved A Pilot’s Life

The first mention of a challenge coin in modern times comes from World War I. The legend goes that a French officer gave away a novelty bronze coin to each member of his flying squad during World War I.

Unfortunately, one of the members of the squad crashed into the German territory and he was captured. The Germans stripped the pilot except for the leather pouch hanging around his neck. Luckily, it was in this pouch that he had kept the coin.

Later, the pilot successfully escaped into France. But, given the tensions between countries at that time, he was perceived as a spy sent by Germany to infiltrate their ranks. The pilot was imprisoned and awaited execution.

It was at this point that the pilot presented the coin and a fellow French pilot recognizes it. It was a novelty piece that only the members of his squad knew about. Isn’t it amazing? The unique challenge coins can really save the lives of soldiers!

Wearable Military Challenge Coins Appeared

One of the later, but a more corroborated story comes from the 17th Infantry Regiment of the United States. The account comes from the period of the Korean War, when a Colonel, nicknamed Buffalo Bill, minted coins for his regiment.

The coin had a buffalo engraved on one side, while the other side featured the insignia of the regiment. It also had a small hole on the top to make it easier for the soldiers to wear it around their necks. The custom novelty coins made in the USA are symbolic and meaningful.

The Evolution from Pfennig Check to Military Coins

There is another origins story for challenge coins that comes from Germany. Most accounts say that the ‘challenge’ associated with the custom made coins was started by American soldiers stationed in Germany after World War II.

At the time, they used to carry out what were called ‘Pfennig checks’. Pfennig was the lowest coin available in the German currency at that time. The idea was that if a soldier did not have a coin during a Pfennig check, he had to buy beers for everyone.

It was this Pfennig check that then graduated to the military coins. Soldiers would come to a bar and slam their coins. If any soldier did not have their regiment’s coin, then they had to buy beer for the challenger who called for the coins and also for other soldiers who were carrying their coins. But, if everyone was carrying their coins, then it would be the challenger’s turn to buy the drinks for everyone.

Hundreds of years of military coins history have not taken away the sheen of challenge coins. If anything, the challenge coins are becoming more popular with the times.

Resources:

1. https://jetimages.jetcdn.net/md5/f1afc9e7f3fdf8ec71cc7db1535e4010?odnBound=576
2. https://www.facebook.com/coinsationllc/
3. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRq2WhjeqhMP-A83m90Ub6gMPUkEKZCRfgZ7QECgRb0j4VQE4k8tg&s

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Several challenge coin stories are circulating about the origins and history of military coins.

The actual origin of the military challenge coins may never be known.

Posted below are the most popular stories about the history of the military coin.

GS-JJ.com is proud to be the World’s leading manufacturer of custom challenge coins and to be part of challenge coin history.

WWI Challenge Coins History (Most Popular)

During World War I, American volunteers from all parts of the country filled the newly formed flying squadrons. Some were wealthy scions attending colleges such as Yale and Harvard who quit in midterm to join the war. In one squadron, a wealthy lieutenant ordered medallions struck in solid bronze and presented them to his unit. One young pilot placed the medallion in a small leather pouch that he wore around his neck.

Shortly after acquiring the medallions, the pilot’s aircraft was severely damaged by ground fire. He was forced to land behind enemy lines and was immediately captured by a German patrol. In order to discourage his escape, the Germans took all of his personal identification except for the small leather pouch around his neck. In the meantime, he was taken to a small French town near the front. Taking advantage of a bombardment that night, he escaped. However, he was without personal identification.

He succeeded avoided the German patrols by donning civilian attire and reached the front lines. With great difficulty, he crossed no man’s land. Eventually, he stumbled onto a French outpost. Unfortunately, saboteurs had plagued the French in the sector. They sometimes masqueraded as civilians and wore civilian clothes. Not recognizing the young pilot’s American accent, the French thought he was a saboteur and was ready to execute him.

He had no identification to prove his allegiance, but he did have his leather pouch containing the medallion. He showed the medallion to his would-be executioners and one of his French captors recognized the squadron insignia on the medallion. They delayed his execution long enough for him to confirm his identity. Instead of shooting him, they gave him a bottle of wine.

Back at his squadron, it became a tradition to ensure that all members carried their medallions or custom made coins at all times. This was accomplished through challenge in the following manner which a challenger would ask to see the medallion. If the challenger could not provide the personalized coins or medallions, they are required to buy a drink of choice for the member who challenged them. If the challenged member is able to provide a medallion, then the challenging member is required to pay for the drink. So that is the story behind challenge coin history and traditions.

WWII Challenge Coins History

Another tradition dates to US Military personnel assigned to occupy post World War II Germany. With the exchange rate, the West German One Pfennig coin was worth only a fraction of a U.S. cent and they were generally considered not having enough value to be worth keeping unless one is broke.

Servicemen would gather for a beer anywhere. If a soldier called out “Pfennig Check” everyone had to empty their pockets to show if they were saving any West German Pfennigs. If a soldier could provide a Pfennig, it means that he was nearly broke and if a soldier could not provide a Pfennig, it means that he had enough money to not bother saving them and have enough money to buy the next round.

Vietnam Challenge Coins History

The tradition of giving military coins dates back to Vietnam. Soldiers carry around a “lucky” weapon to help them or get away with it. At first, it was small arms ammunition, but this practice grew to much bigger and more dangerous ordnance as time wound on.

U.S. President Challenge Coins History

U.S President Custom Challenge Coins are a symbol of welcome and honor for visitors. It is a long tradition. So, do you know some custom challenge coins issued by presidents? It dates back to the 1990s.

Presidential Trump’s Custom Metal Coins are awarded for his huge contribution. In November 2016, Trump got a challenge coin from the navy force.

President Barack Obama’s coins are given out for air force soldiers by “secret handshake”.

At 3rd September 2017, President George W. Bush received an unexpected challenge coin from Marine Corps in Anbar Province, Iraq.

In a word, the military coins are a symbol of glory which deserves our memory and respect. And it’s a good idea to give honor coins like this as a proof of identity or as a gift to the military members.

Resources:

1. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto,h_1248,w_2220/f_auto,q_auto,w_1100/v1555927978/shape/mentalfloss/challenge-coin_6.jpg
2. https://i.signaturecoins.com/i/BCv/A.png
3. https://unsplash.com/photos/quCgY3UFC9E
4. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRkuaJ4YrcfcxPPrwhmIWlFOzC2Isn_Rbl6jmUSZLKaFSe7CFLN4Q&s
5. https://unsplash.com/photos/fFxgQidihO8
6. https://media.defense.gov/2012/Mar/14/2000169999/-1/-1/0/120314-F-FJ989-001.JPG

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When we are not professional artists, we could be worrying about how to accomplish this masterpiece. In this article, there are many useful tips about how to design the best military challenge coins for your group.

We always know the designing a coin is not so easy.

There are many elements we should play with. These may include the style, shape, size, arrangement of the elements, 3D design, colors and finishes, etc.

All such things may bring a great impression to your design. Some of these include:

Style

For military coins, soft enamel, hard enamel and antique styles are more popular styles to apply.

Soft enamel coins feature with vibrant image and logo, recessed enamel parts and raised metal areas are its main special character. And those hard enamel coins are polished with a smooth and glossy finish.

All two crafts can make your custom coins more elegant and delicate. You can choose the style you are preferred.

If you want to create military coins with serious style, die struck coins with antique finish is still the right choice.

Shape

Most of the cheap military coins are standard round in 1.75” or 2”. It’s the first challenge coin looks like, and so classic for any occasion and events.

If you like unique coins, you also can create them as your symbol or logo shape. Custom coins can be designed in any shape.

Logo or Image

A perfect challenge coin should easily reflect the purpose of its creation. So the image on coins is the soul.

How to design the image and logo properly? 2D and 3D design are a common choice. If your logo is simple, you can choose the 3D design to make it impressive.

And the 2D images are available for all challenge coins, if the image has too many details, you can fill without any color or use offset printing or transfer printing option to replace. The effect of the image will look more clear.

Other elements

• Text

The best custom challenge coin that has a brief message is to convey its meaning and keep the design clean.

Because of limited space, short text, or obvious abbreviations are welcome on challenge coin design. It makes sense. Most military coins feature with the unit symbol and slogan, very a few coins have printed with a long oath.

• Edge

Besides the standard edge option, one of the popular edge options for the custom military coin is rope edge. It does not only present the unity and stronger of the Navy force but give more elegance and special looking to your coins.

Crosscut edge is still available for all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

• Cut-out

Cut out design is another important factor you should consider. Some complex shapes are hard to design, and the cut-out process can bring amazing effects on our design.

• Finish

These popular finish options may include gold, silver, antique gold, antique silver and antique brass for military coins.

Gold and silver finish can express the meaning of honor and pride for all receivers, just like the medallion. And antique charming from coins conveys honorable, valuable and historic feeling to recipients.

• Color

Color makes our life more beautiful, it also can create an amazing appearance for your coins.

The above two coins have the same design, the left one is just die-struck without color and the right one has black enamel color. Both of them are awesome honor coins to give away, but the right one seems like putting life into the design. It’s right?

You can take the above as a reference, or trying different combinations sometimes. All these factors you choose can make your coins stand out.

By nature, all designs and options on custom challenge coins should reflect your meaning, mission, goals, and values, etc. Other presentations can help you make coins attractive as you want.

With these tips, it’s easy to start a military challenge coin now. Come on!

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As we know, there are mainly four military branches on the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and Marines Corps.

Army Challenge Coins

US Army is the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military, protecting and defending the safety of the United States. Army challenge coins usually feature the insignia of the U.S. Army Star; you can ask our artist to design a 2D or 3D effect on the surface. And many other multiple options are available at GS-JJ. And the soft enamel challenge coin is the most common type.

Air Force Challenge Coins

In modern society, Air Force defense is more important than before. Air force men and women sacrificed too much for our freedom and safety, and Air Force challenge coins are perfect items to show our appreciation. The wings in blue are always printed or engraved on the coin. The finest cut-out process is available for your Air Force challenge coins. And unique edge options can help you make them more impressive and delicate.

Navy Challenge Coins

Eagle, anchor and rope are the familiar icons for the Navy force. Navy Challenge Coins with these elements are awarded to the members who served in the ocean realm. You can fill with enamel colors or no colors on your Navy challenge coins. Engraving the words in a way you exactly like.

Marine Corps Challenge Coins

Marine Corps is a special force and support unit for the Navy units. We have many unique design and options for you to add you Marine Corps challenge coins. Or you can directly customize it on our Automated Quotation System online.

Military coins are normally collected by active service, retired soldiers and other military persons. These challenge coins bear with the military symbol and depict with complimentary words to express our respect and appreciation. It’s a commemorative gift for the heroes.

When ordering military coins, choosing the right challenge coin maker is much significant. GS-JJ is the right choice for you, committed to providing high-quality artwork to each customer.

Military challenge coins can be used for anniversary events, pride, rank, retirees and veterans or war-related. Or even you can design your favorite challenge coin for your family as special gifts.

Let us design military challenge coins for the brave men and women in any military unit. We have a serious quality control system to ensure all challenge coins before delivery is in good condition. Different shapes or styles, special images and enamel colors for you to choose. Contact us at info@gs-jj.com, we are the expert.

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Metal crafts are also called metal handicrafts, often made from zinc alloy or die struck brass. At GS-JJ, there are three main categories of metal crafts, which include lapel pins, challenge coins and custom medals.

Lapel Pins

The most popular metal craft is the lapel pin. Lapel pins are smaller but become popular and trendy items when pinned to a jacket, hat, and backpack or anywhere you want. In the past, the lapel pin is a luxurious decoration item for the noble on clothing, but now they are regarded as fashion symbols of individuality, achievement. Each lapel pin is attached with a butterfly clutch, magnetic clasps, or other attachments to fasten.

As we all know, lapel pins have various usages. They can be a mini ID card for membership to identify the wearer’s affiliation with an organization and group. For individuals, custom lapel pins are perfect items to show their personality and pride. And lapel pins also can help companies or organizations to promote events, fundraising, employee award, and more.

With the popularity of wearing lapel pins, lapel pins are the most common type in modern society, can be created for any sizes and shapes, colors to be cute and sweet addition for everyone. GS-JJ is the best choice of pin maker, contact us at info@gs-jj.com.

Challenge Coins

A challenge coin is a piece of metal, shaped like a coin mostly, bearing the organization’s insignia or symbol and carried by the members for their excellent performance and achievement.

Military coins are an honored tradition for the Military unit, which was dated back to WWI. Custom challenge coins are normally presented by the unit in recognition of special achievement by their members, and they have seen increasing popularity among other civilian organizations, Firefighter, Law Enforcement and Police departments.

Usually, challenge coins are heavy and expensive than lapel pins and custom medals, but we have offered reasonable and factory prices to all customers and end-users.

As a leading promotional gift of the manufacturer, we specialize in custom challenge coins for the military units, and many other type challenge coins, you can select what you exactly want on our Automated Quotation system.

Custom Medals

A medal is a medallion, minted by brass, and often given as awards to commemorate particular achievement and moments in the ceremony.

Usually, people will be awarded custom medals by their organization as a form of recognition for their performance in sporting, military, academic, or any other individual accomplishments.

Usually, people will be awarded custom medals by their organization as a form of recognition for their performance in sporting, military, academic, or any other individual accomplishments.

We are proud to offer various custom medals for your events, such are running medals, race medals and soccer medals, and more, which are used as rewards or awards for outstanding service and performance of duty.

In addition, custom medals are designed with a jump ring and attached with a standard ribbon to hang on the neck. Our high-quality custom medals are crafted by the high industry level to meets your needs ensure and will display a perfect representation of your events and activities, activities or brand awareness, etc.

All in all, the above three metal crafts have similar crafts and usages, but also have differences in appearance, price, and others. All of them are high valued items to collect, and they are perfect gift receipts that will cherish them in life.

GS-JJ has manufactured Lapel Pins, Customized Medals, and Challenge Coins with 20 more years experience. Each customer can select proper metal crafts as gifts on our Automated Quotation System online directly. Cheapest price guarantee.

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Rangers lead the way. You may have heard this for a long time. Rangers are a special part army force, and it is not so easy for us before receiving the “Ranger” title. You can guess the difficulty; people even list the Rangers as one of the top ten most well trained Special Forces.

The Rangers (also means the 75th Ranger Regiment), are the U.S. Army’s highly trained special units and elite group, designated U.S. Army Ranger units. All members of the Rangers are graduates from the U.S. Army Ranger School, which known as has the toughest combat course in the world.

About the United States Army Ranger School, it has 61-day combat leadership training, which mainly teaches soldiers to overcome fatigue, hunger, and stress, and to be an excellent leader in combat. This training is also open to Sailors, Airmen, and Marines in the U.S. Armed Forces. Since 2015, women could begin to apply for the course.

The training of Army Ranger School, help members to improve their performance and skill on both mental and physical aspects, to meet the requirement of becoming a real and qualified Ranger, and get their own Ranger Tab.

As it’s said, about half of the entrants will fail in the first phase, even if they are the best in the Army. After passing this toughest course, they can earn the precious Rangers’ black-and-gold Ranger tab.

Ranger Custom Made Coins Means A Lot to the Rangers

Not matter Ranger Military challenge coins, or Ranger tab custom made coins means a lot to the Rangers and are impossible to replace.

The Rangers have taken part in numerous campaigns throughout modern histories, such as World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Iraq War, etc. These well-known army forces are deserved us to respect and remember. Challenge coins are an honor tradition, and our delicate Ranger challenge coins are sizzling gifts in honor of their service and sacrifice for the nation.

Ranger Military challenge coins usually bear unique unit symbols or motto that identify the group they belong and represent their honor for service and duty to the nation and our world, even a nice start for the military challenge coins collector.

Known as skillful custom coins maker, GS-JJ specializes in a wide selection of custom made coins, especially Military challenge coins for U.S. Army, US Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, Police, etc. Send your design to us, and we use the finest quality material and craftsmanship to create perfect challenge coins for excellence, at cheap factory price.

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One of most popular and known award in Military field, The Military Challenge Coins!

It represent a tradition since World War I, where It used to be worn by Air Force pilots as a solid bronze medallions. 

Wearing or collecting military coins is becoming popular,  because has been part as military traditions since War.

Then Collect them is common to who served in the military field.

Besides its functionality, as a  military personnel identification, we can mention, that Challenge Coins can also been evolved into marks of presentation for person.

A lot of different organizations and institutions use hem as an award to encourage, reward, and honor the men and women that have contributed to the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Marines by Military units.

These coins are not just lucky material for them, and also represent great prize and honor.

Symbols and emblems of departments representing the labor of each one appears on this designs.

The following are great military coins from GS-JJ for your reference .

Finally, when you decide to select coins for your groups, should look more carefully at design.

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