Custom Shape Coins Inspired by the Local Area
The tropical paradise of Hawaii is home to five of the world’s seven species of sea turtles. Across all the islands, they are a popular symbol used to represent the natural wonders of the oceans and the tropical culture in the Pacific. So it’s no wonder that sea turtles are the first thing that comes to mind when ideas are floating around for custom challenge coins in Hawaii. Conventional challenge coins are round, but that does not stop us from making all sorts of custom shaped products.We make coins shaped like jet fighters, grim reapers, alligators, Spartans and any other design imaginable. Anything our customers can think of is a possibility, but the two separate turtle designs we created recently really caught the attention of everyone in the office. Not only is each design beautifully executed, but there is more to each design than what is apparent at first glance. Check them out, and we’ll let you in on the secret!
Designs Hiding a Secret in Plain Sight
Popular design cues for challenge coins are things like logos, slogans and mascots, especially when it comes to military challenge coins, and these two designs are no exception. But they both have a second purpose as well, and for this first coin, it’s hard to spot if you don’t know what to look for.Scott Stappenback contacted us about making this turtle-shaped coin for his unit stationed in Hawaii. He had a concept planned out, making everything pretty easy for our art staff, so we set about creating a coin based on his ideas. After several proofs and alterations, this is the final product we finished together.
The front face of the coin shows the Hawaii island chain around the detailed scorpion insignia, and the fins each show a different Army symbol. The shell on the flip side is patterned to look like a real turtle shell, and the fins and head are colored with a translucent blue that shines almost like the Pacific waters.
What people don’t realize right away is that this turtle coin is actually a bottle opener. The rear fins were designed to be just the right size and strong enough to open any pop top glass bottle. So not only is this coin something that Stappenback and his unit can share as a symbol of shared experience and service, but it’s also the perfect tool for cracking open a cold one with friends during any free time they have to enjoy Hawaii’s tropical beaches.
Dual purpose coins can incorporate hidden bottle opener designs (like these turtle coin), screwdriver designs, spinning or otherwise interactive segments and all sorts of other secrets. This next turtle coin was designed for a different group stationed in Hawaii, and may or may not have been the inspiration for Stappabeck’s design. We’re not sure either way. All we know is that it includes intricate detail and was beautifully executed.
The contact on this project, Ryan Simmons, said, “The final product is marvelous. All customers I bring them to keep saying how cool they are and that they’re well made. So many are itching to add these to their coin racks, and you have helped with heritage in my unit.” It is much more obvious that this coin is a bottle opener, however, there are still secrets hidden in the artwork. The fingerprint on the back side of the turtle is actually made out of individual strings of words. Even more exciting is the top half of the coins around the 690th Cyberspace Operations Squadron logo.
The binary code repeated behind the logo is not random. The unit responsible for designing the coin insisted that our art team use this sequence of binary that translates to “Cyber.”
“01100011 01111001 01100010 01100101 01110010"
