International Challenge Coins

More Than Just International Military Challenge Coins

It’s tempting to think that international challenge coins begin and end with foreign militaries, but that’s not the case. Certainly, the tradition of awarding challenge coins begins with the military, and allied soldiers are sure to have been some of the first people to come into contact with the metal medallions. When soldiers from different platoons get together on joint missions, the act of comparing and trading challenge coins is inevitable. While American soldiers almost certainly introduced their allies to the challenge coin tradition, that’s not where the story of international challenge coins ends.

Much like in the States, when soldiers of foreign militaries retire from service, they take their traditions with them. Because of this, international challenge coins have spread as far and wide throughout other countries as they have in the U.S. We still make our fair share of international military challenge coins for allied nations — Royal Air Force stations, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Australian Defence Force — but we’re also able to do so much more than that.

Canadian Challenge Coins

As a U.S. based company, it shouldn’t be surprising that our neighbors to the north account for a large portion of our international coin orders. Challenge coins are every bit as common within the Canadian Armed Forces as they are in the U.S. Military. From the Royal Canadian Air Force to the Canadian Army, soldiers aren’t likely to leave home without their custom Canadian challenge coins.

Making custom coins for Canadian customers doesn’t stop at the armed forces, however. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are often one of the first things to come to mind when people think about the Great White North. With their distinctive uniforms and their mounted status, the Mounties cut a striking and memorable figure. They also order a lot of challenge coins.

At the end of the day, the custom coins Canada offers her citizens are put to the same use and created for all the same reasons as U.S. challenge coins. Whether it be border protection, fire services or even business coins from companies happy to call Canada home, the custom coins created for our northerly neighbors are always a sight to behold.

Embassies, Border Services, and NATO Agencies

Some of the most interesting international coins we produce never belong to a military at all. Embassy security offices, preclearance and border services posts, and NATO’s own agencies all run coin programs, and each one comes with its own design constraints: official seals that have to be reproduced exactly, bilingual text, and heraldry where the colors are not negotiable. We use the Pantone Matching System on every one of these so an agency crest comes back the same shade it left in.

If your organization sits under a government or intergovernmental body, our government coins page covers the approval and artwork details in more depth.

UK & Ireland: British Forces, Royal Navy, and RAF Coins

The United Kingdom runs coin traditions as old as the American ones, and British Army regiments, Royal Navy ships, and RAF squadrons all order from us. The design language is different enough to matter: regimental and squadron heraldry rather than unit patches, mottoes in Latin as often as English, and colours specified by an official pattern that our art team matches through the Pantone system rather than approximating. Ministry of Defence offices and joint commands order their own designs, usually formal — crest on the face, office and dates on the reverse, antique silver or gold instead of full colour.

Irish orders lean the other way. Rather than military, most come from clubs, GAA sides, emergency services, and diaspora organisations, and the designs are unapologetically Irish: harps, Celtic knotwork, county colours, and Irish-language text that we typeset properly rather than transliterating. Coins going anywhere in the UK or Ireland ship on the same free air service as domestic orders, and quantity breaks are the same — a regiment’s worth or a single club’s fifty.

Heading Down Under with Australian Challenge Coins

To fly from our offices in Orlando, FL to Australia would take at least 21 hours. Luckily, we don’t deliver challenge coins by hand. The fact that we do so much business with the land down under never ceases to impress us. Getting to the point where your business spans the globe in such a way is a source of pride for any company.

Canadian challenge coins are often easily distinguished by the red maple leaf showing up somewhere in their design, but Australian challenge coins don’t carry such obvious markers. Every so often, a design will show up with kangaroos and other Australian wildlife, but other than that, there’s really no clear way to distinguish between an Aussie coin and a coin from another country.

The 501st Legion is a charity we do a lot of work with, and they’re as international as we are. The Australian garrison regularly places orders that seamlessly blend the Legion’s trademark humor with images thought to be unique to the country.

Getting an order in from the 501st is always a good time, but not all Australian challenge coins are all fun and games. In fact, one of our most active international customers is an organization that easily combines Canadian and Australian challenge coins into one.

Celebrating the Ties that Bind

The Multinational Force and Observers is an organization dedicated to keeping the peace. Built up of soldiers and military personnel from multiple militaries around the world, it’s the one place where you’re guaranteed to get multiple countries represented on one challenge coin. The Canadian and Australian Armed Forces are two participants in the MFO, and their coins are some of the most individually international you’re likely to come across.

The MFO coins are perfect examples of what’s best about international challenge coins: their ability to showcase the things that bring us all together instead of the things that divide us. Whether you’re looking to create coins to honor a joint task force between yours and an allied nation, or just looking for military coins for your favorite unit, you can do so with the knowledge that all around the world others are doing the same thing.

Ordering Custom International Coins

The process for ordering international challenge coins from Signature Coins is no different from the process of ordering any other items from us. The only things to take into consideration are that only orders being shipped within the continental U.S. are eligible for free shipping. However, we have a few inside tricks to help save money on international shipping. We also ship to APO and FPO addresses, which is often the simplest route for a deployed unit. Also, if requesting a coin with text on it in a language other than English, we ask that you double- and triple-check the spelling to ensure it is correct.

Otherwise, all of our customers benefit from the same high-quality products and the same exceptional customer service. We’ve also created the custom coin template to help our customers better organize their thoughts and to sketch out ideas for their challenge coin designs. The challenge coin template is not required to start an order, but it’s a resource that’s available to all of our customers.

Partnering With the Best Challenge Coin Maker

When you come to Signature Coins for your international challenge coins, you benefit from our years of experience and a team that’s dedicated to creating the best product imaginable. More than that, you’ll see how hard our sales team works to get you the best deal possible.

To get started, fill out the quote request form which can be found anywhere on our website. Our team of artists will get back to you with your first free proof of artwork in under 48 hours. All revisions and edits to your artwork are completely free. With Signature Coins, you don’t pay a dime until you’re completely certain that the coin you’re seeing is the coin you want.

Contact us today and you’re that much closer to seeing your challenge coin ideas brought to life.