WHAT DO CUSTOM CHALLENGE COINS SYMBOLIZE?
The first thing to know about the custom challenge coins is that they are a symbol that shows the organization they belong to. It is very important for one to know what this kind of coin actually is. The reason is that a normal citizen is just aware of the money coins. Several such coins are also used as identifying coins to prove that the person wearing or carrying the custom challenge coin is a part of the organization. The custom challenge coin started its journey from the First World War when the voluntary fighter pilots were given the coins by their batch mates as a token of fraternity. Later this coin saved the life of a pilot who was thought to be one of the enemy pilots of the US soldiers.
Due to the positive effect of the coin as a life saving part of a soldier’s uniform it became an essential part with all the military forces. The coins are still an important part of the military uniform and they are to be carried by the armed forces on and off duty; all the times.
However the people of the armed forces are not the only one who is using the coins because they are being used for several purposes now. One organization can have more than one kind of coins symbolizing the different branches or products by their company. They are available in several different colors and sizes and any design according to the organization can be minted for the owners on demand. It takes merely a fortnight to mint a pack of coins and send them forward to the client.
Original Source of Challenge Coins
The custom challenge coins are the best tool used for advertising today. Any company can market its product by giving out free coins that advertise for the different products they want to introduce to the public. When minting of coins for advertising is to be done then a lot of people need to see to the fact that the money that is being spent on the minting is easy to be afforded at the start of a new business or not.
Most of the people of whom order custom challenge coins for their business require a few things:
- Less price
- Good quality
- Free samples
- Fine metal
- Designed according to the clients order
- Quick delivery of the order
- Value of the coin according to its price only
The custom challenge coins are a good way to keep history in hand and go back into any period by just looking at the custom challenge coins. Coins have been depicting the history of every period since hundreds of years;
- Ancient Greeks
- The Romans
- The British Empire
- The California Gold Rush
- US coins
So the coins don’t just depict history and act as a savior for the military officers but they also serve for several other purposes as well out of which the most important is that it depicts history which holds a lot of value.
Challenge Coins For Sport Teams
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Challenge coins are quite famous because of being cheap, and their attractive, durable and different uses. People wearing challenge coins do not wear only a metal; they in fact wear the feelings of pride, affiliation and support.
Since the existence of challenge coins they are being used for many purposes in various private and public organizations. They are used for various purposes from employee appreciation to membership and registration etc. In the US army, use of challenge coin is imminent, as they are the emblem of a soldiers’ belonging to their branch and designation. In this article we are especially concerned about challenge coins for sports teams, like who used them, how and what their purpose is for using these challenge coins. Let’s look into it in detail below:
Which sports team uses challenge coins?
Sports Custom Coins
Currently challenge coins are used in almost every sports. You may talk about baseball, softball, hockey, gun shooting, football, basketball, athletics etc. Every team uses their own special type and style of sports challenge coin. These coins built team spirits among the members. Every player wearing sports challenge coin feels a special affiliation with his team and their ultimate goal i.e. winning. Sports challenge coins are not limited to national and international sports teams. They can be worn by other sports teams at school, association, club, city etc. Because sports challenge coins are available in custom design and styling, so anyone could get their own custom style as per liking.
What purpose a challenge coin can serve?
Military Challenge Coins
Sports challenge coins can serve various important purposes for a sports team and its management. First of all it can serve the purpose of team spirit among the members. They feel themselves belonged and united. Other than the sports team itself these sports challenge coins help bring support for the team from spectators, who wears challenge coins to support their teams. Another important purpose a challenge coin can serve is increased participation from the public i.e. if each participant of the sports event is awarded with some gift then he would love to come himself as well as would bring others in the event. So what better gift could be for the audience other than sports challenge coin, which is cheap, durable, memorable and attractive?
Who wears these challenge coins?
Sports Coins
Among the wearer of these sports challenge coins could be the sports team members, managers and the supporters in audience. Moreover, winner of the events also gets their special sports challenge coins like there are sports challenge coins for man of the match, best player, winning captain, losing captain and the winning team etc. Sports Challenge coin is special for every sports team, its managers and the audience. As it is famous that a team does not play alone and wins; it’s a mutual effort of the team and support of its audience. So we can simply conclude that every wearer of a sports challenge coin either in the sports team or audience is indeed a part of the team.
Getting the Best Ideas to Create Your Challenge Coins
There are different makers that introducing new ideas and designs about the creation of different types of challenge coins. Most of the challenge coins are different due to their shape, design, and logo and at times size as well. The antique style of finishing of the coins are also quite in these days. The antique look is usually done in gold, silver or copper tones. This style is quite trendy and all those people who think that they want to attract the attention of the others towards their styles should opt for this. The antique plating can also be done on other designs but the same color option is a better one. The choice of the metal is very important in coins. It is essential for the coins to be done in a good quality metal to make them last for long. The bad metal which gets rusty quickly is not actually a good idea; rather it is just waste of money.
The quality of metal is very important, if the coins are kept in one tone it reduces the minting time. Most of the coins take a long time if they are to be done with different colors as it takes a lot of time to hand paint each color on each coin in the same manner. The most important thing is to make sure that what kind of an event it is that you are planning to give out the challenge coins. If the challenge coins are mere advertisement coins that are given out to the public then the focus should be on the ad to be put on the coin so that more and more people are attracted to it.
If the challenge coins are to be given out on special occasions then the presentation of the coins is equally important too. The ideas of creating the new kind of challenge coins are by taking a glance at the old coins as well. The old logos and styles are always a door way to new ideas and merging a few ideas together can bring out a few wonderful ideas for new coins. Most of the coins are either brand new ideas from the coin designers or the new logos of any company or unit are presented on the coin, the way of presentation depends upon the designer of the coin. The color and styles also depend upon how much money the investor is ready to invest in the minting process.
How to Get People to Notice Your Challenge Coins
Challenge coins are very popular these days. Different marketing and advertising teams are using the coins as a big tool for publicity of any product or franchise. All those people who are a part of the minting teams know which kind of coins look better than the others. The expensive kind of challenge coins are definitely more attractive but to keep the cost under the budget and also to make the coin look attractive it is very important to see to it that more and more people take a look at the sample design first and then make a final decision. It is very important to make sure that people from all over the world can understand what your coins says even if they are unable to read it due to language issues.
These days the coins are being minted in several dimensions. The 2-D, 3-D and multidimensional coins are a part of the new type of coins. The coins are however quite important for the people who are advertising a product.
Here are a few things that might help people in noticing your challenge coins:
- Add in a few flashy colors
- Try a different shape a 3 dimensional coin attracts people better as the whole logo on the coin seems to be jutting out of it
- Try a plain coin with a shiny same color on both the sides
- Give it out for free with a small chocolate or other such items
- Give a free sample of the product on showing the coin
- Give out a few percent discounts on showing the coin
Challenge Coins can be noticed by all those who have interested in the particular thing the coins are advertising about. The best way to market anything is do a pre launch advertisement. This can be done by putting up signs about the launch of a product so that curiosity arises in the people along with the signs add a small coin at the bottom that indicates that it would have all the details about the launch and the product. Next launch the challenge coins. These coins would be in demand by all those who are inquisitive about the thing and they would then wait. If the coin has some sort of an offer of getting a discount on the product by showing it then it would definitely be kept with a lot of care.
Custom Challenge Coins and Government Agencies
Most of the important government agencies have specially designed challenge coins of their own. Most of the special agencies have given out challenge coins to all their officers. These challenge coins are a way to give them a secret identity and this secret identity can be showed to other officials in case of any kind of trouble. The challenge coins are made in special material and these coins lose their importance if there shape is tried to be changed or a hole is tried to be borne through it.
Each government agency has its logo on one side and the year of printing and some kind of a special prayer or motto on the other side. Most of the challenge coins are a secret sort of pass for the officers to enter special places where no one else can and these coins are also used as a way to mark the attendance of the officers at special places. Some foreign embassies have their own special challenge coins which they give out to their special people as a lot of secrecy is needed in embassies and outsiders are not allowed at any cost.Different kinds of challenge coins are minted for the police and military departments and they are used as a way to protect their officers. Many government agencies give out challenge coins as rewards for the brave efforts of their officers.
Most of the officers take these as a token of appreciation and collect all these coins and show them around to their friends and family with pride.The government agencies get the coins specially designed for their departments. Most of the people who make these designs they know what to follow and how to make these coins different and unique and what to portray in them. These coins are special and they are made with special designs that are copyrighted and cannot be used for any other department. Coins are also designed with team efforts and these efforts are fruitful when the officers like the coins. There are special agencies that design coins for the different government sectors. Challenge coins for government agencies are actually what they are used for basically while the other sectors have also started making use of them.
10 Best Ideas to Promote Your Business with Challenge Coins
Now the marketing strategies have changed and several different ideas have come up. The major idea is to promote a business by marketing through different type of challenge coins. The challenge coins act as brochures but are definitely more expensive.
Here are ten best ideas to promote a business using different types of challenge coins:
- Get the logo of your company embellished on a coin and give out these coins for free with different food or grocery products.
- Using the challenge coins as a replacement to brochures and giving them out for free on signals and other such places for people to remember and visit the new place.
- Challenge coins can also be used as a gift after purchase at a shop. These coins are a good way to make the shopper remember his shopping and would bring up the excitement among children to collect more and more coins by visiting the same shop again and again.
- Challenge coins may also be used as tokens. Each coin worth a few points that would give a specific percentage of sales on the complete bill would attract a lot of people to purchase things from a shop and gather lots of points to get the sale.
- Challenge coins are a good incentive for all those involved in a program.
- Challenge coins can be given as a bribe for all those who can spend a good amount of money for all those who may be given a few points in return and these points would then add up to a reward coin.
- It can serve as a completion gift for people after a program is completed.
- A challenge coin can be used as a good support system for the promotion of any kind of a business project like a school by giving details on one side and the logo on the other side.
- Professional careers can be maintained by giving out certain challenge coins that have tips that may be useful for others.
- Challenge coins are a good way to write recipes on them and give them out in different packets for people to collect and help in the growth of sales of the product.
Challenge Coins – Old Traditions and New Trends
The old challenge coins were plain and simple with simple borders and were made up of different metals. The challenge coins in old times were not that expensive either and if their metal was banged up they were still not worth except the actual cost. The new trends in challenge coins have changed the whole concept of challenge coins.
They are no more used for challenging the officers to show their coins but are now a good way of marketing products. Most of the challenge coins are a part of the marketing scheme of a product or franchise. The challenge coins are now very expensive and made up of every kind of expensive materials like gold, silver, platinum, etc. most of the challenge coins in the olden times were only worth a few dimes while now the more invested in the coins means attracting more public towards their brand.
The latest types of coins that have become very common are:
- Spinner challenge coins: These kinds of challenge coins are not that useful but they are quite expensive. These kinds of coins are actually loved by coin collectors and coin lovers.
- Punched digit challenge coins: these kinds of coins are introduced by different food franchises or factory owners. They are given out to the different workers so that their attendance can be marked out daily. Similarly the food franchises take help by the punched digits by placing the food orders on the table of the one who has the punched digit coin placed on it.
- Bottle opener challenge coins: these kinds of coins are very common and given out usually by bottle companies. They get these kinds of coins made with the logo of their company or brand on it and give them out to the general public for free and for the marketing of their product. Other companies also use these kinds of coins so that when the people use them to open bottles their attention gets the better of them for their business.
How to Choose Ribbon Colors for Challenge Coins?
Different types of challenge coins to express the feelings for a brave act or a special occasion for any one are given. These special challenge coins hold a very important place in the life of those who are awarded the coins. The coins are given for different purposes by different departments and organizations. The ribbons used to hold the coin and place it around the neck show the importance and the different colors depict what the coin is for. The different colors show the different feelings which include:
- Mourning
- Hope
- Cancer
- Organ donor
- Abuse
- AIDS
- Brave
- Pride
And several other feelings which are clearly depicted through the different colors so that all those present in the ceremony that gives out the coins get to know what the coin depicts for the other person.
The Red color of the ribbon shows that the ribbon is for any kind of disease including AIDS, heart disease, etc. When put through a challenge coin it stands for the love of the organization for their officer/worker. The orange color ribbon is specially given out to the brave Highway and Road worker who may have lost his life or suffered an accident. The color depicts the love and respect for the hard worker.
Yellow colored ribbons show the support to the troops who work hard on the borders. They are awarded the ribbons to show the appreciation and love of the public for their extra ordinary efforts of staying away from their loved ones to protect the borders of their country.
Green color ribbons when tied around a challenge coin shows the appreciation that an organization has for a person who has been fighting a severe disease that needs big transplants.
The black colored ribbon is for the mourning color and tied around the coin of those who have lost their lives in some act of bravery saving lives of many. With black there are other colors also attached to show that the one who has lost his life holds a high place in the hearts of the others.
Almost every color stands for something or the other and one should check out the importance of the color before attaching it to a challenge coin as many ribbons are just for different illnesses and supporting against the cause of them.
How to Order Custom Challenge Coins
Custom challenge coins are becoming more popular in many organizations for many purposes. A lot of small and big organizations worldwide give them as award to their employees. They also order their coins for promoting their products and services. These are also used for group recognition or to showgroups of people serving a special purpose. These challenge coins are a wonderful tool for motivating workers and increases theirunity and faith. This means better productivity. That’s why many companies have adopted these coins because this is a cost effective formula to present somebody token of appreciation.
How to Order Custom Coins
There are many types of challenge coins in market. You can think challenge coin is just the main category which has further many sub categories as military coins, appreciation coins, good bye coins, thank you coins, award coins, welcome coins, wedding coins, organization ID coins, noble cause coins, flag coins, etc. and all other types fall into this category.
People prefer online shopping. There are a lot of companies online which are preparing custom challenge coins for every need of their clients. A good company is which has strong history of production with many satisfied customers. People choose website where they can order with ease. A good site always keeps many designs into its gallery so that clients can choose their coins with ease and order directly. If the client is willing to order the coins but feels hesitant of ordering soon, he can go for free price quote option.
To place the order of custom challenge coins, customer needs to have an idea in mind. The customer has the choice of selecting one design from the gallery which is available on the site. He can either order the coins as they are or make a few changes to create his own custom challenge coins. If the desired coin design is not found in the catalogue, the client might also call or email directly to the company to give designers his color choice, slogan, picture, special text and effects which the expert designers can easily convert into a coin. Each version of design is sent back to customer for approval and customer can have any number of revisions to the design. If the customer thinks the design is just what he wants, he can place order directly. When the order is done, the client will be able to have his coin at his doorstep within 7 to 10 days through the fast air delivery. This is the shortest time a good company can offer, otherwise there are companies which complete production in 15 plus days.
Designing coins is not an easy task. Not every designer can do it. There are special coin designers who do this task. They are people with special skill who only do this work. That’s why they become expert as the time passes.
As the time goes on, the trend of using challenge coins is going to increase. There were times when only military people used to have their coins but today these coins have become commercialized item which everybody wants to own. Even people collect them as hobby or love to gift them to their loved ones.
Challenge Coins for Exceptional People
In this era where everything needs frequent change and people try to add style to everything, challenge coins are old but a fashionable way to award somebody for his good work. People search new and innovative ideas which can visibly show the emotions attached. That’s why many private organizations prefer challenge coins to award their employees. This seems a perfect match. Most interestingly, challenge coins are not expensive item but the memories and achievements that come with them are exceptional. Challenge coins are not only used in military or government sector; rather they are used worldwide by many other organizations, churches, schools, colleges, etc.
These coins are famous because they are a durable item which won’t tear with the passage of time. With a little care, they can be kept safe for years.
The tradition of producing challenge coins for exceptional people is very old. First World War was the first event in the world when these coins were first seen. Custom challenge coins are a great way to enhance the motivation level of the workers. The workers feel association and unity. They try to work even harder than before. People feel superior and love to show others their award. There are many display options available in the market. People save the coins to give them a long life.
Custom Challenge Coins Manufacturer
Challenge coins are made with special details on them. It may include the company’s information such as name, slogan, identification picture, color scheme, special text, etc. All these items show which company has crated them and for what purpose. All this stuff on each coin makes it unique which is enough to convey the true message behind it. There are some coins which have sequential numbers on them. Also, some coins are designed with 3D images on them. All this is the will of the buyer who orders the coins.
The owner of the coin feels proud that he is the one or one of the few persons to hold the coin. Nobody else can have such coin because custom challenge coins are special purpose coins which are produced specifically for one organization. Now it depends on the organization how many employees it awards with them. It might be one person or a group to hold the same coin but nobody else can have them. This is not an item which is sold in bazar and anyone can buy it.
The trend of awarding brilliant workers with challenge coins is increasing. This has proved a good way to exhibit the entire message in few words. This is a very strong marketing tool which companies are using worldwide. When companies launch new items, they give their employees challenge coins which tell others about the upcoming product. This boosts the excitement among the employees. They feel they are special part of doing well for their organization. Other people also see them with the eye of respect. Not only this, the trend of collecting unique challenge coins is also very high is young people. Moreover, some like to give them as gift to others. No matter what purpose the challenge coins are used for, they are an economical and classic way to express the complete message.
