The Next Frontier for Coins
Custom coins are just about everywhere. All across the land, secret handshakes are taking place between members of the military, the corporate world and even the entertainment industry as a means of passing a special coin from one person to another. We’ve made custom coins that take to the skies with airline pilots, and some coins have even hitched a ride in the pockets of NASA astronauts heading beyond the stars. Where will custom coins go next?
As it turns out, some may be plunging into the darkest depths inside hand-built submarines. The Foundation for Underwater Research and Education (FURE) asked us to help create a special set of custom coins for their biennial submarine race, proving again that challenge coins can be found just about anywhere.
Plunging to the Darkest Depths — Sort of
The 2019 International Submarine Races (ISR) were held at David Taylor Model Basin in Maryland, which is one of the largest test facilities for marine vessels in the world. The facility is part of the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, which is home to more than 2,000 engineers, scientists and support staff, working to develop and support our nation’s surface and undersea fleet.
The fact that Carderock is the birthplace of many of the world’s most advanced undersea vessels makes it a fitting place for young engineers and scientists who are still in school to partake in a friendly race in their own handmade submarines. However, while the Navy submarines developed and tested at places like Carderock explore the deepest parts of the seven seas, the man-powered submarines brought to the ISR are confined within the testing pool at the David Taylor Model Basin.
Achieving the greatest depth is not the main goal for contestants, however. It’s a race, after all, so they’re all concerned with speed. The judges overseeing the competition have a list of things they look for during each team’s time trials, and at the end of the week, scores are tallied and awards are handed out.
There are several different categories where teams can excel, like Best Use of Technology, Best Design Outline, and Absolute Speed, among others. In the last ISR competition in 2017, the team from Ecole de Technologie Superior won the award for Best Overall Performance and Best Spirit of the Races with their submarine christened OMER X. In honor of their victory, their submarine is featured on the 2019 International Submarine Races challenge coins designed by FURE.
Why Race Submarines? And Where Do Challenge Coins Fit In?
Recognizing a lack of students pursuing careers in ocean and marine engineering and science, the founders of ISR decided to find a way to attract young talent to their field. The competition, therefore, is an investment in the future of our nation’s scientists, technologists and mathematicians. It provides a place to gain hands-on experience and practical knowledge.
FURE and the ISR work closely with parts of the United States Navy, which could explain where they got the idea to start creating their own challenge coins for the biennial event. The history of challenge coins is steeped in military tradition, but that hasn’t stopped them from spreading like wildfire. The way they show appreciation, celebrate camaraderie and reward a job well done are all universal.
The front of each coin features the new FURE/ISR emblem. The logo was created to look like a schematic of a submarine in development to capture the essence of what the foundation and the submarine races are all about: developing practical skills and using theoretical knowledge by building submarines.
The OMER X took the prize for Spirit of the Races in 2017, and it’s successor, the OMER 11, followed up with another Spirit of the Races award in 2019. This might mean that when the next submarine race comes around in 2021, we may see the OMER 11 on the back of the ISR coins. However, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Challenge coins are a means of sharing stories and celebrating the camaraderie found in a team. The whole point of the ISR is to encourage young people to follow a career in science, technology or mathematics by providing an opportunity for teams to feel the rewarding experience of designing a submarine from scratch and taking part in a competition to see all their work pay off. These coins serve as a reminder of those experiences long after the races end.
A Military Tradition That Reaches Far and Wide
These aren’t the first submarine challenge coins we’ve ever designed, nor will they be the last. The truth is that we’ve made several different types of custom coins for sailors who operate submarines in the United States Navy. Some of the coins have plunged much farther into the great unknown of the ocean than the ISR coins. But the ISR is still a new frontier for challenge coins.
The contestants at the ISR come from all over the world. When they head home, the coins leave the base with them, ensuring that the story of the races doesn’t end once the competition has concluded. Even though these aren’t the first challenge coins made for undersea vessels, they’re still an amazing example of the incredible places you can find challenge coins.
We’re confident that custom coins will continue to spread to all corners of the globe; in the sea, on land and beyond. Whether you’re looking for something to take to the farthest reaches of space or the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, we’ve got you covered.
