Challenge coin...the Basics!
By:Adam M.
08May2006

A challenge coin, or a military unit coin, is a coin given as a sort of award or in appreciation of work for doing a good job. They represent a unit’s motto or mascot; they can also reflect a person, like a commander. In some cases, these medallions can also be bought, such as unit coins, or even base coins. All DoD branches, Law Enforcement, and many other entities have challenge coins to give out to people. Challenge coins almost represent a hallmark of a person, place or the operation that existed. Its history is unclear so we might not really know for sure when the first military challenge coin was handed out. 

Collecting challenge coins has become an increasingly popular hobby. It seems that almost every collector at heart now want a piece of the challenge, so to speak; even not-so-serious collectors want to trade them like baseball cards. I myself, being a recipient by merit of some of these coins, have a sizeable collection. I know I am not alone in buying more of challenge coins that I can never earn as an air force soldier. But I have to admit there are plenty of these medal artifacts out there that are so beautiful such that I would be guilty of buying them. Some collectors, however, have huge amounts of military challenge coins and each day new designs are minted and entered into the market. Trying to stay a step ahead of the pack and building a collection to die for is quite the task. The first challenge coin I received was the unit coin given me by my commander as a way of congratulating me for having been “Airman of the Month”. I really treasure my first medallion coin and have thus always displayed it and the others that followed.  Altogether, I have earned around 25 different challenge coins from various places throughout my career. My hard-earned challenge coins reflect to an extent my career path and remind me of the people I have been fortunate to meet. Some coins are a little rare though. There is this instance when I personally met Air Force CMSgt Finch and Murray who were very reluctant to give or even trade their coins. These types of coins could be deemed rare because their owners do not hand them out easily. Other rare challenge coins could include those reserved for the President, or Staff, and even Generals.

With the rarity of some of these coins, it’s understandable to see knock-offs of them out there. I mean think about it—there could only be so many original challenge coins and not so many would be willing to part with or sell something so personal. Many collectors will complain of fakes, but I don’t see the point. If they are indeed nice coins then what difference does a replica make? The value of a challenge coin comes more from what its owner makes of it and not just from its past history.  My suggestion in choosing a coin is to check for the level of the coin, its design, details and most importantly, to gauge how it would fit with the rest of your collection. My suggestion when choosing what coins to get is to take a look at the level of the coin, the design, the details, and most importantly, how it will look with the rest of your collection. Challenge Coins are a great way to show off your career or simply to collect for a hobby.