What! Challenge coins in a sandbox…no not that kind of sandbox silly. Today U.S. Challenge Coins has to finally bow to Google and the almighty new site sandbox. This is where a new domain or site gets “sandboxed” for strong keywords. We have not ranked in Google for any normal keywords our site should rank for like “Custom Challenge Coins”, “Challenge Coins”, “Military Challenge Coins”, or anything else someone would think to type in to find us. We went strong for about 4 weeks and everyone could find us with ease. Then the nasty hit us on March 30th. We were gone and without a trace. Read the rest of this entry »

Well everyone we have been tied up and not blogging like we should be (I know, shame on us).  So let’s get some “face” time in. First it’s 2008 and we are finally rocking again. As most know we lost our old name last October but I believe it was for the good. We branded U.S. Challenge Coins so much better. We are getting HUGE! We are getting a large influx of support from our users and to us that’s important because it keeps the site alive. As most already know we are the biggest site for challenge coins on the web. We offer more of everything in everyway. We are within months of being back to normal. We want to be your addiction, your source, you connection to the hobby.

Besides what we can brag about we wanted to give a sincere thank you for everyone that has come by to support our site through buying coins and more. That helps us pay for the server and more. We love our visitors. Some think we are just some company churning out profit and could care less about you. This is far from the truth. We are a couple guys (Adam and Larry) building friendships with all kinds of people who don’t want to be ripped off anymore. We are providing some of the rarest coins on the market. We are building the largest community on the net for the hobby. We take your phone calls to just chit chat or to order stuff. If you just want to talk and say thanks or talk about the hobby call us. We are here for you.

We have developed over 100 sites for the hobby and we are growing. We want to touch ever person we can with honesty and information. So many sites have it wrong. They just want your wallet. To us that’s business but we know we can do better. We take a break once in a while just to see where we sit. We did this the other day and said to ourselves,”We have something no one else has”. No stores, no overhead, just a great community of people. Except this one guy that called while I had my new born daughter in my arms as she was throwing up and crying. Instead of being patient and polite he hung up on me. If you are that guy that couldn’t understand please don’t ever call back. I will never help you again, as you were rude. I would have given you hours of my time but instead you did that. I was mad for most of the day to be frank.

If any of you reading this have ever talked to me (Adam) you know I wear my emotions on my sleeve but I am always genuine.  I listen to everyone, even people from other challenge coin companies. I don’t care who you are, you will always have an ear. If you are a disabled vet, or just a collector, or maybe someone thinking about collecting you have my attention. You may also know I am a regular guy and not some yuppie in an office. I work from home which means you will hear my children from time to time or catch me sleeping. I have built this empire from the ground and one day my children will take it over.

Ok enough about all that stuff. Let’s talk site. We have a ton of new inventory we will be putting up for everyone. We have made about 70 new coins in the last month that are breath taking. We stopped eBay all together and are going through other channels. If you are still doing eBay I highly suggest you start taking notice of the changes there. We recommend MilBid.com or Challenge Coin Auctions .com. Both are going to be huge come 2009. There are many changes coming to U.S. Challenge Coins in the next few weeks and month but I will always be here for everyone.

Hey! There is something cool I want to share with everyone. I received something after my vacation in Feb. I came home to a package from Iraq. The unit we did coins for, the 492nd Civil Affairs, sent us a plaque of appreciation for helping them with their coin. That coin is amazing and we were proud to save them huge amounts of money. Besides that those were some great people. We help the ones serving as much as we can. Wake me up at 3am to work with me on a coin if you need to. I don’t care what time it is. If I hear my phone I am answering. You might get a groggy Adam but non the less you will have me. Don’t make it a habit or my wife might think something is up though…haha.

If anyone wants to see anything special let me know. We have a full forum, blog, site, store, articles, milipedia, auctions, jokes and more. You make this all possible so my ears are open. Let me know if I am doing a bad or a good job. I actually listen. Larry is also doing all the unit coin orders coming through. I have given most of it to him but I am willing to jump in if you want me. Take it easy on Larry, he may be a little rough but he is learn that whole customs and coutersies thing. For you wholesalers in the pin field hang tight. I am opening a site that will allow you to buy wholesale my pins. This was a long time coming. We know a lot of you want to start carrying our line. It’s unique and better than most. We wanted to make that happen since we have been getting a huge amount of phone calls for this.

By the end of the year the location will shift as I will be moving from GA. It’s time to go as I have been here 4 years. I am getting closer to going back home to New England.  I am hoping to relocate to Asia somewhere. Larry will be taking over the shipping aspect while I am traveling the world in 2009 and beyond. Get to know him. We have been like brothers since I was 6 years old and he is awesome at this as I have been teaching him everything I know. Ok if you need more you will find me in the forum, on the phone, in an email, or at MilBid. Please come back and help us spread the word. We can’t do it all without you.

One thing I will leave you with is stay away from the other custom challenge coin companies. You are only buying them offices around the net and Hummers. We know you are smarter than that!

It’s been a long time that USCC has been using line art as their standard way of showing customers what their artwork will translate into. Those days are gone. We have upgraded our art department to show you true 3D renditions of your coin before it goes to mint. You may wonder if their is any additional cost to you. The answer is not…there is not. We have been wanting to do this for a while and not was the time after a full one year of beginning to offer custom challenge coins. So if you are looking for custom military challenge coins please check out what we provide in price then let us show you why we are becoming the number one source for challenge coins in the world!

The military wiki is starting to gain some traction as some editors have come aboard and are helping out. It’s amazing how much people crave information and when they find something new and fun they really go out of their way to help. I wanted to thank Novabolt and Mikeal on the blog for getting the ball rolling and really contributing and pressing me to start getting in there more. Even if you only know about Black Hawks…we need you.

Honestly, without some volunteer work the Milipedia is not going to get anywhere. This could be a huge resource that everyone can have a piece in. Unlike the Wikipedia, this has a more narrow focus and gives people the ability to really contribute since this is a much smaller wiki. Wikipedia has such a huge base that mose edits are reverted, but not in the Milipedia. Some things will get reverted but you have a high chance of really putting some great information in it.

What are you waiting for? Come in and check it out!

The web ring has grown for challenge coins. This time it’s in the field of challenge coin trading. Challenge Coin Trading .com (CCT.com) is the most intensive challenge coin community out there. There is no other source that even comes close with features as:

The ability to create and manage your own groups
A full fledge forum
Awesome amounts of information
A blog
A gateway to the largest challenge coin web ring in the world
A full feature profile
A free full feature trading board for members

This is the first site of its kind for hobbyist and we are proud to be on the team. This is something that is a heavy hitter and should prove to involve more people over time. While other groups have benefits, this one really covers them all with even more features. Please take a few minutes out and really get over and check it out, bookmark it, then spend the rest of your life committed to it…ok maybe that a little far, but still worth a shot!