Custom Masonic Coins & Freemason Challenge Coins

What Is a Masonic Challenge Coin?

A masonic challenge coin is a custom minted coin carried by members of a lodge as a token of membership, a mark of a shared milestone, or a gift between brothers. It works the same way a military challenge coin does — you carry it, you show it, you hand one to someone whose work deserves recognition — but the artwork belongs to the fraternity: the square and compass surrounding the letter G, the all-seeing eye, the twin pillars, the checkered pavement, the working tools.

Freemasonry has been around since as early as the 18th century, and for nearly that long, members have carried unique “mark pennies” as proof of membership. Over the years these custom freemason coins have taken on the same mysterious quality as the fraternity itself. We’re not aware of any secrets hidden in the famous square and compass, but we do know that Freemasonry is known for its charitable works, sponsorship programs, and promotion of fraternal bonds — and that a well-made coin is one of the few things a brother will still be carrying twenty years later.

Lodge, District, and Grand Lodge Coins

Most of the masonic coins we design belong to a specific lodge. The name and number go around the rim, the jurisdiction sits below — Safety Harbor, FL, A.F. & A.M., Free and Accepted Masons of Florida — and the emblem the lodge already uses on its aprons, banners, and stationery goes in the center. Districts and Grand Lodge programs order the same way, usually at higher quantities and often with a second design for officers.

We also mint for lodges working outside the United States and in languages other than English. Spanish-language lodges are common in our work, and the artwork process is identical — send us the wording exactly as it should appear, accents included, and it goes on the proof that way. If your lodge is chartered abroad, our international coins page covers shipping and payment for orders outside the US.

Lodge Anniversaries and Bicentennials

A charter anniversary is the single most common reason a lodge that has never ordered coins finally orders them. Two hundred years, one hundred and fifty, a simple centennial — the date range on the coin gives it a reason to exist and a reason for every brother to want one. These runs tend to be larger, because they go to visiting lodges and dignitaries as well as members. Our commemorative coins page covers the design decisions that come with dated coins.

Made a Mason, Raised, and Past Master Coins

The other half of masonic coin orders mark a person rather than a place. A “Made a Mason” coin is presented when a brother is raised, engraved or stamped with his name and the date of his third degree — a keepsake he keeps for life and, in many lodges, a tradition older than the challenge coin itself. Past Master coins do the same job at the other end of a career, and officer coins mark a year in the East or a term as District Deputy Grand Master.

Coins like these usually carry a name, a title, and a date, which means they change every year. That’s not a problem — the mold is the expensive part, and once your lodge has one, reruns with new text on the back cost far less than the first order. If you’re building a recognition program that runs year after year, our years of service coins page walks through how those programs are usually structured.

How to Design Your Masonic Coins

Mason coins are meaningful and memorable tokens that members will carry for a lifetime, so we work carefully to ensure that every aspect of your vision is brought to life with clarity and precision. It may seem like a daunting task to create a new design from scratch, but we’re here to make the process as smooth and simple as possible. All you need to do is follow these three easy steps to turn your idea into a reality.

Step One: Get a Free Masonic Challenge Coin Design and Estimate

Ordering challenge coins starts with filling out a quote request form on our website. Other challenge coin companies will charge you before creating a design, but we offer free artwork, free revisions and free quotes for pricing.

Tell us about your ideas and upload any artwork you have while filling out the quote form, and our art team will set to work on a free digital proof of your coins. The quote form has a place for you to select your preferred coin options and to upload artwork. We also have a free challenge coin template that you can use to sketch out your ideas, but it’s not required.

Step Two: Unlimited, Free Challenge Coin Design and Revisions

Once you submit a free quote form on our website, you’ll receive your first digital proof of artwork and a pricing quote within 48 hours. You can request as many revisions to the artwork as you like, so be sure to let us know how we can improve the design.

Some other challenge coin companies offer one free pricing quote and one free digital proof but charge for each revision to the artwork. A coin design rarely comes out absolutely perfect on the first try, which is why we have always offered unlimited free revisions.

So, whether you need 100 changes to your coin design all at once, or just a few changes spread out between multiple proofs, we’re happy to help!

Step Three: Order Your Custom Freemason Coins

When your masonic coin design looks perfect, you can place your order. You don’t have to commit to any purchase until you’re ready, so feel free to take your time. The digital proof we create for you will always be in our system, so if you need more time to raise funds or simply want to take a day or two to think things over, that’s perfectly fine.

Once payment is received, your mason coins will go into production right away. Standard production takes 3–4 weeks; shipping is additional (free, typically a few days). We also offer USA Made Rush for coins: simulated enamel in 3–5 days of production, die struck in 7–10 days. We never sacrifice product quality for speed.

We also include a 100% quality guarantee on all of our custom products and free shipping. Once your custom masonic coins go through our production team’s quality control process, they’ll be delivered to your doorstep within days. If you find any defective coins, let us know, and we’ll have free replacements made as quickly as possible.

All of these factors combine to make Signature Coins the best free online custom coin designer available.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re ready to get started on a custom freemason coin design, contact us today! You can call and speak with one of our friendly sales team members, or you can simply fill out a free quote request form, and we’ll reach out to you via email to confirm we received the project.

Your free artwork will be ready within 48 hours, and you can make as many revisions as you need to get the design just right. Remember to check out our free coin design template below if you want to sketch out some of your ideas, but it’s not required. As long as we have a description of your idea, we’ll be able to set to work and bring your vision to life!