You've done it. You've collected each variant of quarter and nickel known to man, you searched the high seas of the coin marketplace for special dimes, and you may even have a gold doubloon or 2. But one of the rarest types of coins remains outside your reach: the challenge coin.
But that leaves you with many queries. What are challenge coins? Where can you acquire them?
Well, wonder no longer. We're here to inform you all about army challenge coins and how you can start building your collection today! So sit back and get comfy, because we're going in.
What Are Army Challenge Coins (And Their Origins)?
To put it in plain terms, army challenge coins are metal tokens that are generally presented to members of the military. The challenge coins meaning tends to be one of honor and loyalty, to show that the bearer is a bonafide member of their military “family”.
The story goes that the first one started with a soldier during World War I. When stranded from his platoon and captured by the French, he established his identity with the only thing he had on him. This was his army coin, identical to the ones he had made for his whole troop.
The story would go to spread like wildfire, and a new tradition burst into the world. This would go on to mean different things for different soldiers as time wore on.
For instance, in Vietnam soldiers would use these coins in a betting game of sorts. The coins would be in the form of a recovered bullet or piece of shrapnel that came from a battle that soldier made it out of alive. All the soldiers tell their stories, and the one with the worst story buys everyone else drinks.
Nowadays, challenge coins are more ceremonial. However, there is still a special tradition that soldiers will do at bars where one holds up a coin. All Army members there have to show their coins or end up buying the drinks.
How To Get These Coins
So, we're willing to bet you're not going to sign up with the military so you can get one of these coins. Luckily for you, you've got other options.
Well, if you're not as interested in authenticity, tons of artists make custom challenge coins that you can purchase for your collection. You can even customize them to your liking, giving them stuff like your favorite movie quotes.
If you pride “credibility”, however, you can buy replicas of challenge coins from several vendors or participate in special events where you could get passed down a genuine challenge coin if you had a family member who served in the military.
Gotta Collect Them All
And there you have it! You are now knowledgable in the meaning and history of army challenge coins! you even know where to find them!
If you'd like to know more about coin collecting or the goings-on of certain parts of the world, check out our blog!
So until next time, happy hunting.
