The widespread acceptance of challenge coins in citizens' and organizations' daily lives has led to the evolution of their design. From ancient days, military challenge coins–the mother of all challenge coins you see in the market today–were curved into a round shape and insignias embedded on them. With time, challenge coin manufacturers realized they were missing the point by failing to creatively update the shape, color, finishing, and size of challenge coins. This led to the development of the new generation challenge coins that abandoned the design principles of military challenge coins in favor of elegance, beauty, and communication.
While we still refer to the new generation coins as “challenge coins”, there are instances where a design may go too far from being a coin. These are the instances we want to highlight in this article, so you know how to avoid them whenever possible. Let’s go.
The challenge coin is not a basic shape.
There is no limit on what shape you choose for your custom challenge coins. However, the basic shapes are most preferred by developers and customers alike. This is not to say that clients should be forced to follow the strict selections of shapes. However, when you choose a design that utilizes a complex form, you will deviate from creating a challenge coin to create a utility artifact. Regardless of this fact, the resultant object will mostly accomplish the intended purpose, and that is what matters. Utility challenge coins have a special place for many people in the corporate world, and not many people will agree that some of these artifacts are not actual challenge coins in any way.
The challenge coin is too large.
Usually, challenge coin manufacturers limit normal challenge coins (with the basic shape) to between 1.8 inches and 3 inches for the longest cut-across line. Similarly, utility challenge coins should not exceed a diagonal length of three inches. Failure to stick with this requirement makes your challenge coin too big to carry. Remember that the rules of a coin check state that a challenge coin should not be left behind. A challenge coin should fit comfortably in a pocket, and receivers do not need to carry a pouch for it.
The weight is just excess.
As we have previously mentioned, challenge coins are to be carried all the time. This calls for the use of light materials to ensure the receiver is not inconvenienced in any way. However, some companies may still prefer to use heavy metals depending on the symbols to be embedded on the coin. The weight may also be added when making a utility challenge coin rather than a traditional challenge coin.
The bottom line
Sometime there will be a need to deviate from the standards to achieve the intended purpose. However, you should always consider alternatives whenever you get yourself in a situation similar to those highlighted in this article. Most importantly, always keep challenge coins portable. That said, we would like to remind you that you can buy various challenge coins and police memorabilia from our store here.
