The city of Boston created the first American police force in 1838. Since then, brave men and women across the country have taken up the call of protecting their communities and fellow citizens. As police forces spread across the country, so too have custom police challenge coins. These days, you’d be hard pressed to find an officer who doesn’t have a custom police coin of their own.

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Three police challenge coins including a Check Your Six thin blue line design and a New Brunswick Police badge coin

Ordering Police Coins for your department

Across the country, and many other countries as well, police officers are the people on the front lines of keeping the peace and ensuring the safety of millions. A lot of people only sleep soundly in their beds at night because they know there’s a well-trained group of men and women on call 24/7 to intercede should something happen. Honoring the hard work, dedication and sacrifice of these brave individuals is not only necessary, it’s the least we can do for all that they do for us.

The challenge coins police officers carry are often presented for excellence in the line of duty just like military challenge coins. This particular similarity comes from the fact that challenge coins enter the law enforcement industry because retired and discharged soldiers often head into law enforcement when their term of service is over, and they bring a lot of the traditions of the military with them into their new professions.

However, the uses for law enforcement challenge coins don’t stop at honoring individual officers for a job well done. Custom police coins are a great symbol of belonging, and therefore are often given to all of the members of special teams and task forces. But one of the primary places that police and military coins differ is in the fact that police department coins are just as likely to be created for members of the community as they are for the officers themselves.

For soldiers in the military, the hard work they do often takes place far from civilian eyes. Even though they fight for their nation and to protect their fellow citizens, those citizens very rarely have any idea about the specifics of their duty and their sacrifice.

Lakeville Massachusetts Police Department challenge coins with a silver badge and a Courage and Dedication reverse

Police Coins for the Community as Well as Officers

For soldiers in the military, the hard work they do often takes place far from civilian eyes. Even though they fight for their nation and to protect their fellow citizens, those citizens very rarely have any idea about the specifics of their duty and their sacrifice.

Police officers work shoulder to shoulder with the people they protect and serve. Patrol officers often work the same beat for years at a time. When you spend that kind of time within one community, creating ties with the people within the community is inevitable. Given these tight-knit relationships, you’re far more likely to find coins intended to be handed out to citizens.

Often, police challenge coins going out to community members are designed in recognition of helping officers to best accomplish their tasks, or they can be dedicated to informing the public of a certain service the department offers. Another common goal of police department challenge coins is fundraising. Whether it’s for raising funds for the department itself, or in honor of a worthy cause, the power of challenge coins for this purpose is undeniable.

Academy & Promotion Coins

Police academy graduations and rank promotions are natural moments for a department coin. Class coins often carry the academy crest, graduating year, and a shared motto every recruit can keep for the rest of their career. Promotion coins mark sergeant, lieutenant, and command elevations — a physical record of the step up, not just a certificate in a file.

Departments also order coins for FTO completion, field training milestones, and swearing-in ceremonies. If the date is fixed, approve artwork early so production stays inside our 14-day window after final approval.

K9 & Specialty Unit Coins

Man’s best friend plays an important role for soldiers and police officers alike, and the men and women lucky enough to work closely with police dogs will all tell you that it’s the best partnership they’ve ever had. Unlike riding with a human partner, an officer’s K9 companion never complains about their lunch choices, is unwavering in their loyalty, and will always listen attentively when they complain about the rigors of the job.

Given their importance, every officer’s furry friend deserves a police coin of their own. However, seeing as how the importance of the coin is likely to be lost on a police pup, it’s better to create coins for the K9 unit officers on your team to honor their hard work. The pups will be happier with treats and belly rubs. For designs built specifically around handlers and working dogs, see our police K9 challenge coins page.

Specialty units — SWAT, detectives, traffic, school resource, and multi-agency task forces — order the same way: unit patch or badge on the face, operation or team name on the reverse. Joint first-responder events often pair police coins with firefighter and EMS designs so every agency shares a matched set.

Ordering Police Challenge Coins

The challenge coins police carry often feature custom designs created by a team of officers for the brave men and women in their own unit, or are sometimes created by a commanding officer. However, no matter how detailed the final coins are, designing them is as easy as possible when you partner with the best free online coin designer.

Our team of artists are well trained and perfectly suited to bring any coin idea to life. And with the help of our custom challenge coin design template, selecting the upgrade options you’d like to see and organizing all of your design ideas in one place is a snap. Print out the template and hand it to the officer with the most artistic ability, and watch as their sketch is transformed into an amazing challenge coin.

Of course, the template isn’t required to place an order. We’ve created challenge coins based on little more than notes jotted down from a phone conversation. However, if you’re lucky enough to have a more artistically minded person on your team, then the template is a great resource for organizing your thoughts and seeing most of our available upgrade options in one place. Give us a call or shoot us an email today to get started.

Partnering With the Best Custom Coin Designer Online

Law enforcement officers have one of the toughest jobs available. Their bravery and selflessness deserve to be rewarded as often as possible. Custom police coins are the quickest and easiest way to say thank you to the men and women working tirelessly to keep their community as safe as possible.

All orders placed with Signature Coins benefit from free artwork and an unlimited amount of free revisions, an industry-leading turnaround time of 14 days or fewer, and all of our challenge coins are created using only the highest quality materials. To get your very own order of custom police coins started, get in touch with us today, and we’ll be sure to get your first free proof of artwork to you in under 48 hours.

From Your Vision to a Finished Masterpiece

Don't touch a pixel. Our award-winning design team handles everything, you just share your idea and approve the proof.

Share Your Idea
Send us a sketch, logo, or even just a description. No design skills needed. Our artists bring your vision to life.
Approve Your Proof
Get a free digital proof within 48 hours. Request unlimited revisions until it's exactly right, at no extra charge.
Receive Your Coins
Your coins are shipped free via UPS Priority Air. Quality you can feel the moment you pick one up.

Explore Finishes & Upgrades

See how different options affect pricing

Custom Challenge Coin Plating Options

Antique gold plated challenge coin
Antique silver plated challenge coin
Antique copper plated challenge coin
High-polish gold plated challenge coin
High-polish silver plated challenge coin
Dual-plated challenge coin

Custom Challenge Coin Edge Options

Challenge coin with a standard flat edge
Challenge coin with a rope edge
Challenge coin with a spur edge
Challenge coin with a flat weave bevel edge
Challenge coin with an oblique edge
Challenge coin with a cross cut edge

Additional Challenge Coin Options

Spinner challenge coin
Challenge coin with translucent enamel
Challenge coin with a 3D mold design
Challenge coin with sequential numbering
Glow in the dark challenge coin
Challenge coin with edge engraving

Challenge Coin Pricing

Compare pricing by size, quantity, and finish to estimate your project cost.

Color on Both Sides (Up to 7 Colors per Side)

Size 50
1.5" $6.03

Color on One Side (Up to 7 Colors)

Size 50
1.5" $6.03

No Color (Metal Only)

Size 50
1.5" $6.03

Mold Setup Fees

Molds are FREE on all orders over 300 pieces
(on coins up to 2.5")
Size 50
1.5" $6.03

Custom Coin Customer Reviews

Police Challenge Coin FAQs

Yes. Send a clear photo or scan of your department badge, patch, Maltese cross, or other emblem and our art team will recreate it as coin artwork. Vector files are ideal, but high-resolution photos and existing patch designs work well too. We refine detail so badges and patches read cleanly at coin size, and you get free unlimited revisions until the proof matches your department.

Fire, police, and EMS units often combine the badge with a station number, unit motto, or anniversary date. See our firefighter, police, and EMS challenge coin pages for department examples.

Read more in our Help Center

Our minimum for custom molded coins is 50 per design. Per-coin pricing improves at every quantity tier above that — compare them on our challenge coin pricing page.

If you need fewer than 50, our no-minimum custom coin builder lets you order as few as one coin, and stock and personalized coins have no minimum either. We can also produce a 5-coin pre-production sample against a larger order, though it isn’t cost-effective on its own.

Read more in our Help Center

Through years of experience, we’ve been able to streamline our process and deliver a superior product faster than any other company.

After the custom coin design (Proof) is approved and ordered, the project goes directly into production, and depending on the design, it can take around 2-5 weeks to manufacture the products!

For instance, a non-colored antique design with no upgrade features, could take us only 3 weeks to produce! If you have a special design, the process will take a few days longer.

Check in with us for more information regarding our timelines for your specific design and our Rush options!

Read more in our Help Center

Yes. Per-coin pricing drops as quantity goes up, so department-wide, multi-shift, and multi-station orders usually land in a better price tier than a single squad run. Compare volume pricing on our challenge coin pricing page, then send one quote for the full order so artwork stays consistent across every coin.

Read more in our Help Center