Custom Challenge Coin of the Month – January 2017

Custom military challenge coins are a perfect way to commemorate the service of those who give their all for the sake of their country. Whether you are celebrating a life in passing or a lifetime’s worth of service, custom military challenge coins by Unit Coins solidify memories in intricate designs that will live on for years to come.

Chief Petty Officers – An Indispensable Force

This month’s military challenge coin celebrates the Navy’s Chief Petty Officers. CPOs and SCPOs are non-commissioned officers who bring a variety of technical and leadership skills to the table. Depending both on their rate and rating, the chief petty officers perform important duty both on land and seas.

Before attaining the rank of CPO, a petty officer must pass a rigorous exam that includes evaluation by their peers. In this way, advancement to CPO is seen as more than just a promotion – it is induction into a self-chosen band of brothers that has its origins in the very earliest days of the United States Navy. Once one achieves the rank, they have access to parts of the ship, including the Chief’s Mess, that only sailors do not get. Access to these spaces is vital, as it allows time to think and decompress when handling the huge responsibilities a CPO handles on a ship at sea.

How did we go about creating this month’s featured custom military challenge coin? Read on to discover how a coin goes from concept to reality.

Every branch of the United States military, and every unit within each branch, utilizes specific and unique designs to tell a story. When we are designing a challenge coin, we look to this aesthetic heritage to inspire a design that is both instantly recognizable for what it is and specially meaningful for those who know what they are really looking at. Learning how to classify and identify a challenge coin’s recipient through analyzing the devices used in its design is one of the most interesting and thrilling aspects of the challenge coin brotherhood. Those with years of experience in and around military artwork and heraldry recognize many design elements almost instantly; the amateur military numismatist might have to use all the resources he has on hand to suss out a newly-acquired coin’s origin. Either way, that moment when a challenge coin’s full story opens up to the careful observer is a thing of magic. That’s the power of custom military challenge coins. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a double-sided full-color challenge coin worth?

For those looking to commemorate the life of a fallen family member or comrade, military challenge coins can play an especially poignant roll. Marshalling the artistic and personal resources necessary to immortalize the life and work of a serviceperson is more than just a business transaction. It is a sacred operation, the construction of a monument with the power to preserve that life and work for generations to come. The talented artisans at Unit Coins take that work seriously, laboring to faithfully carry out the tasks they are given, knowing that they are handling a grave responsibility. On the other end of another beautiful custom coin design is the special gift of knowing that you took part in preserving memories for time immemorial. The people that we produce coins for are more than just customers. They are part of the extended custom military challenge coin family, and we love bringing them into our time-honored tradition.

Custom Coin Design Features for Memorial Coins

Designing a memorial coin is a process that demands a well-thought-out approach. A memorial coin has to both give enough information about the service the honored individual served in to tell their story and enough personal flourish to make it their own. Finding this balance is the specialty of our custom military challenge coin designers. They will work with you to find a design that speaks to the honoree’s unique history. Thanks to our extensive selection of available metals and full-color designs, we can do anything from an austere and sober monochrome all the way up to a playful and daring design incorporating every color in the rainbow (in good taste, of course). We can even create commemorative coins in custom shapes. The only limit is your imagination.

Custom Military Challenge Coin – United States Navy Chief Petty Officer Coin

This month’s featured custom military challenge coin celebrates the accomplishments of a chief petty officer. Its obverse face features most prominently a skull-and-bones wearing a navy cap, surrounded by the various enlisted-rank shoulder badges of the US Navy. The honoree’s name, rank, and inception date surround the outer edge of the coin. All the detailing is in eye-catching color acrylic resin and debossed (“3D”) textures.

The reverse face’s centerpiece is a debossed solid silver-color sailor with his foot on the massive cleat of a capital ship against a waving American flag background. The inscription around the edge, rendered in impactful debossed red lettering, reads “The Chosen Few” and “United States Navy Petty Officers.”

Both sides are finished in fine rope edge detailing.

Creating Your Own Custom Commemorative Coin with Unit Coins

When many people hear “commemorative coin” they think of celebrating the life of a departed love one, but that’s not the only reason to purchase a commemorative coin. Custom commemorative challenge coins can be a great memento of many different achievements and anniversaries.

Retirement is a traditional occasion for giving out custom challenge coins. Often, the dispersal of coins forms the high-point of the retirement party, as these tokens of appreciation cap off the celebrations and leave everyone with a tangible token of the night.

Birthdays can also be a great reason to give custom challenge coins. Knowing that your loved ones put in the time to create a custom design just for your birthday is a special feeling. What’s more, these collections can stay in families over generations, providing a fascinating look into family history for generations to come.

Custom coins for special events have also become more popular in recent years. Sometimes, it feels like no one really appreciates the hard work that goes on behind the scenes of special events. The leadership, logistics, and vision necessary to pull off a great event often go overlooked in the face of the flashier elements. Custom challenge coins for special events honor everyone involved in the process.

And of course, there are custom challenge coins for graduations, custom challenge coins for promotions, custom challenge coins for civic organizations… really, the only limit is your imagination.

Choosing a Custom Challenge Coin Manufacturer

When you are choosing a company to design your commemorative challenge coin, look no further than Unit Coins. We are one of the leader custom military challenge coin producers in the county. Veteran-owned and US-based, Unit Coins takes pride in the work we get to do honoring everyday heroes. The artisanship behind every Unit Coins custom military challenge coin comes with a deep conviction that producing these coins is about more than just a pretty piece of metal… it’s about memories, tradition, and honor. Give Unit Coins a call today for a free design consultation.