INTRODUCTION
Let’s discuss challenge coin sizes and how they impact your overall design. Custom-designing a challenge coin for a loved one or yourself is an excellent way to create an exclusive and unique gift. It can be an exciting and innovative process where you unravel your creativity and bring your ideas to life. The best part? Challenge coins are highly customizable, offering endless opportunities to make something unique and meaningful. Whether you want to commemorate a special event, honor a loved one’s service, or showcase your affiliation with a club or organization, a custom challenge coin is the perfect way to do it.
At Lone Star Challenge Coins, you’ll find much of our coin-designing process interesting, entertaining, and exciting. We will work with you, giving you feedback on essential things such as what challenge coin size is recommended for your design, making the process as smooth as possible. You’ll be able to see your very own ideas take shape and become fully realized throughout the entire design process.
First Time Designing A Custom Challenge Coin?
First-time designers often face roadblocks, like picking the perfect size for their custom coin. While you’re free to customize the dimensions, it’s worth noting that there are standard coin dimensions you can consider for your project. Ultimately, the perfect size will depend on your design.
If the process sounds overwhelming, there’s no need to worry. We offer several different coin sizes and a slew of design options. We will work closely with you to turn your initial concept into a fully-fledged professional design that exceeds your expectations.
Want to learn more about challenge coin sizes and how they apply to the design process? Our guide will cover all you need to know, including the history behind challenge coins. Let’s get started.
What are challenge coins?
Challenge coins are a unique way of signifying that someone is a member of a particular group or has been honored for some achievement. These custom-designed coins can come in various shapes and sizes.
Challenge coins have been around for centuries but have recently become popular among non-military groups such as businesses and public service organizations. They are exchanged as gifts or rewards for a job well done. They are collected and kept as souvenirs of the group’s accomplishments.
They Promote Camaraderie
These coins promote camaraderie, recognize outstanding achievements, and build morale within military units or other organizations. They typically feature a unit’s emblem or insignia and may include the organization’s motto.
They Signify Commitment, Dedication to Excellence & Appreciation
Challenge coins are tangible reminders of the commitment, hard work, and dedication of being part of a team or organization. They’re also a physical representation of pride in membership and are often given during special ceremonies or recognition events.
Furthermore, challenge coins can symbolize appreciation or gratitude to recognize individuals who have gone above and beyond in the line of duty.
They Are Highly CUSTOMIZABLE
Available in many shapes, sizes, colors, and designs, challenge coins can feature special features like luminescent effects or 3-dimensional elements. Whatever the design, a challenge coin is an invaluable asset to any organization!
Where Do Challenge Coins Come From?
As they’re becoming much more common within groups and teams of many kinds, you might come across challenge coins in various places, though traditionally, the challenge coin has been a staple of military culture. It can signify the military branch the coin holder has served in, the particular groups they may have been a part of, and some of the honors they’ve been bestowed with.
Challenge coins are also popular among first responders and government agencies. Regarding the former, a challenge coin can honor a member’s extraordinary achievements or acknowledge membership. The same goes for the latter, with various agencies having specific challenge coins as a form of bonding.
The Purpose of Challenge Coins
Signifying Membership
Acknowledging Accomplishment
Paying Tribute
Some challenge coins aren’t designed to represent a specific group or military branch but are created to honor a particular event. You can use commemorative challenge coins to celebrate joyful moments. They most commonly pay tribute to difficult circumstances where lives were lost, and heroes were born. These coins are designed to both honor those heroes’ actions and commemorate the lives lost.
The Typical Size of Coins
Designing your custom challenge coins can be a fun experience but poses some challenges. You’ll need to know a few things, including the standard challenge coin measurements. Your challenge coin can come in a wide range of sizes and thicknesses, but if you’re looking to create one that matches standard coin sizes, then yours should fall within the scope of 1.5” to 2”.
Perhaps the most commonly selected size on a coin diameter chart is 2”, which is due in large part to the fact that such a size strikes a solid balance. It is big enough to display a detailed design but not so big that it becomes unwieldy. That said, if 2” does seem too small for your particular setup, then you can always go larger. Some designers create coins with diameters as large as 7”.
Thickness of Challenge Coins
How to Choose Custom Coin Measurements
Challenge Coin Design
Generally, you’ll want your design to be relatively fleshed out before you select your size, as coins on the smaller side of the spectrum won’t do your design justice if it boasts a higher level of detail.
As such, if you were aiming for smaller coin sizes but have detailed artwork, you may want to settle for something bigger than anticipated or dial down the intricacy of the design. Reducing the level of detail will make it fit better on a smaller coin. We can help you simplify your design while keeping it as close to your original design as possible.
Cost of Challenge CoinS
Sometimes, your budget will make some of your design choices for you. The larger a coin is, the more materials will be needed to create it. Thus, the more costly it will be. There’s also the cost of the coin mold, and like the material, the larger the mold is, the more it will cost you. If cost is a concern, opting for a smaller coin size will help you hit your budget.
Plans for the Coin
If you’re hoping to display your coin on a wall or desktop, it’s often better to go with something more prominent. It will be more visually striking when on display, whereas if you want to stow your coin away and be able to carry it comfortably, then you may want to consider a smaller size.
Another thing you must consider is that there’s a particular prominence and weight (both literal and metaphorical) to larger coins that can help convey the importance of what they commemorate.
Order Custom Challenge Coins with
Lone Star Challenge COINS
Send US Your Ideas
The first step is to send in your custom challenge coin idea. You don’t need to submit professional artwork to start the process. We can work with something as simple as a sketch or a written description. You can do this by filling out our online quote form. As soon as we get your request, we will send it off to the Lone Star design team so that they can begin working on your project.
Our design team has plenty of experience and focuses on creating the best high-quality designs. They will create a mock-up for you so that you can see what your coin will look like, and our veteran-managed sales team will email it over to you with a quote as soon as it is complete. Every design we create is free, with unlimited revisions available to our customers.
Get A Proof & Quote
Shortly after you submit your project inquiry, our team will send a custom design for your challenge coin. Please review your proof carefully and analyze the quote we provide. If you are unhappy with the design, please tell us what you would like to change, and we will implement your changes free of charge — as many times as needed.
Approve & PURCHASE
When you give us the green light to proceed with your order, we will email you a link to our online invoice system so you can pay for your order. We accept most payment methods, including taking payment over the phone. Your coins can only start production once we have confirmed that the full payment has been made.
After submitting your payment, your coins will go into production immediately so we can get them out to you as quickly as possible.
Are larger challenge coins more valuable?
A challenge coin’s value is not solely determined by its size. The value lies in its symbolism, rarity, craftsmanship, and the significance of the unit or event it represents. While larger coins may have more visual impact, it does not necessarily make them more valuable.
Are there size restrictions for intricate designs on challenge coins?
Highly intricate designs may have limitations when it comes to smaller coin sizes. Fine details and small text may not be as clear or legible on smaller coins. It’s important to consider the balance between design complexity and the chosen coin size.
What is the advantage of a larger challenge coin?
What is the advantage of a smaller challenge coin?
Can challenge coins have non-circular shapes?
CHALLENGE COIN SIZES: FINAL THOUGHTS
To briefly summarize everything, the most common diameter of a challenge coin is 2”, though the most common sizes typically range between 1.5” and 3” wide. 3mm is the standard in terms of thickness, but coins as thin as 1.2mm and as thick as 6mm are not uncommon.
