Many Americans saw their first military challenge coins in November 2009, when President Barack Obama, at memorial services for the 13 victims of the mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, silently laid a commander’s coin below a photograph of each of the victims. The coins were meant to recognize the gravity of each victim’s sacrifice.

Challenge Coin Legends

In the U.S. military, the challenge coin – also known as a unit coin or commander’s coin – identifies its bearer as the member of a particular unit, and is a symbol of pride and fellowship. According to a few competing legends, the first challenge coins were used to establish identity. The most widely circulated origin myth involves a wealthy Ivy League lieutenant who had coins struck for each member of his squadron in the Army Air Corps during World War I. After he (or another squadron pilot, depending on the version) was shot down behind enemy lines, he was captured by the Germans and stripped of all identification – except for the coin, which he carried in a leather pouch around his neck. After escaping his captors, the pilot made contact with some French villagers who mistook him for a German saboteur and were preparing to execute him until he produced the coin. One of the Frenchmen recognized the unit insignia, and the pilot was saved.

It’s a good story, though probably a bit of a stretch – how did the Germans miss the leather pouch around his neck? – and several others exist, one involving an American soldier who, during World War II, had his unit insignia stamped on the back of a Philippine coin to prove his identity to a group of guerrillas fighting against the Japanese invaders.

According to a story in a 1994 issue of Soldiers Magazine, the first American challenge coins were established in the 1960s, when a member of the 11th Special Forces Group had old coins overstamped with a different emblem and distributed them to group members.

Not long after, the 10th SFG became the first U.S. military unit to mint its own coin – and remained the only Army unit with its own coin until the mid-1980s, when the tradition took off.

Challenge Coin Customs

It wasn’t until the Vietnam era that the “challenge-response” tradition was established, in which unit members were challenged to prove membership by producing the unit coin – a custom soon enhanced by the requirement, if one was caught without the coin, to buy a round for other unit members.

Today, challenge coins are often given by a commanding officer as a reward to recognize outstanding service, according to Jesse Medford, founder of the Challenge Coin Association, an organization of military coin collectors and enthusiasts. “A company captain might purchase about 150 to 200 coins and give them out to all the people who worked for him,” said Medford, “or someone may only buy a handful, maybe 50 coins, and give them to select people as a reward for work above and beyond – not like a military decoration, but more of a kind of show of appreciation to their soldiers with a coin they purchased and designed themselves.”

Medford – who served 11 years in the Navy, from 1991 to 2002 – had never heard of military coins until he joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard, where he continues to serve as a platoon sergeant in the 26th Yankee Division. It was in Iraq, in 2005, when Medford was serving in the 42nd Military Police Brigade near the village of Al Khalis, that he received his first coin, from his lieutenant. “After everybody had got on the trucks to go to work, he called us to the side,” said Medford. “Our first thought was that we were about to get yelled at for something. Then he shook our hands, and the coin was in his hand.”

As more unit members have acquired coins over the last decade, Medford said, the challenge custom has become more widespread. “You’re more likely to have a coin with you now than you would have 10 or 15 years ago,” he said.

Over the decades, metal has been the preferred manufacturing material for challenge coins. However, a new type of challenge coin emerged among the military and law enforcement communities in 2007. Warrior Chip™ introduced Ceramic Challenge Coins™ as a unique, affordable alternative to metal coins. Known as The Next Generation Challenge Coin™, Warrior Chip’s proprietary ceramic polymer composition and process permanently embeds vibrant colors into the chip, creating more versatility in the design spectrum than is available with traditional metal coins. Warrior Chip™ has manufactured the only 1.75-inch chip in the world, and with the 4 mm thickness it provides a similar size, look and feel as that of a true metal challenge coin. One key advantage of Warrior Chip’s Ceramic Challenge Coin is there are no die fees, which have plagued the metal coin industry for years. Highly durable and lightweight, Warrior Chip’s Ceramic Challenge Coin has rapidly become a popular product with the military and law enforcement organizations. Whatever the material, challenge coins have become increasingly popular and the challenge ritual more common.

The challenge ritual has become as varied as the number of unit coins themselves; depending on the unit, challenges don’t always involve the purchase of a drink, and there are different rules for what constitutes an actual challenge. The Special Forces are one of the few to have, even informally, their “coin check” rules posted online.

It would be a mistake to challenge Medford – so far, he’s received four coins for his National Guard service, and he’s never caught without them. The last time anyone tried was in 2007. “I was the only person at the table who had a coin on me,” Medford said. “He said I didn’t owe him a beer – but all the other guys did.”

Do you own a challenge coin that you particularly treasure? Is there a good story about how you got one? Have you ever had to pay for a round because you didn’t have your coin? Share your challenge coin stories with us in the comments section below.