80 Years Later, There’s Still Time To Honor D-Day Heroes

5-minute read

History Captured in Coin Form

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Normandy beach landings, and our Signature Coins team is honored to have played a small part in paying homage to the heroes who served that day.

These coins were created by members of the U.S. Capitol Police who travel all over the world with high ranking members of congress as security. When they found out that a delegation from the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate planned on attending the 80th anniversary, they knew they had to move fast to make sure the coins were made in time.

Sean McNaughton, a long time customer of ours and member of the Capitol Police, reached out to us about the project to see if we could meet a fast approaching deadline. Over years, Sean and his team have worked on close to 20 different projects, but this one is unlike any other.

Creating Custom Coins Fast for D-Day

The D-Day coins needed to be finished in about two weeks to meet the deadlines. Normally, coins take three to four weeks, and a couple of days to ship, but Sean agreed to try a new method that could save time.

In the past, Sean and the Capitol Police have always ordered traditional brass challenge coins stamped using a custom die. For these D-Day coins, we used a simulated enamel process that involved layering colors on the surface of a flat brass coin. The layering effect gives the coins a unique texture and a level of depth similar to that of a traditional challenge coin. They’re also much easier to produce quickly!

When we asked Sean about the coins, he said, “They got great reviews, and I think they came out perfect. We made 200 of them, and took them all to Normany, either to give to people who helped us out in the country, or to trade with other agencies. They’re different from some of the other coins we’ve made over the years, but we’ll probably make coins like this moving forward.”

As for the design, Sean wanted to create something meaningful that captured the story of D-Day as much as possible. “We actually used a picture from an old D-Day map outlining the invasion for the design,” he said. “I’ve always been a big history buff. I served in the Army and my unit is of the major units that contributed on D-Day. They send a contingent of soldiers to the

The map shows where all of the American and Allied units landed on the Omaha and Utah beaches, and the two mottos - “Rangers Lead the Way” and “Twenty-Nine Let’s Go” - are the mottos forged during the Normandy invasion.

Share Your Own Story With Custom Made Coins

Sean and his team at the Capitol Police have designed all kinds of custom challenge coins with us, and each one has a unique story to tell. They’ve made coins shaped like lego characters, coins for the House or Representatives with each house member’s district number, and even coins for the Savannah Bananas baseball team!

Every project is unique and we’re always excited to learn more about what makes the design special. If you have your own ideas for a custom challenge coin, let us know! Just fill out a free quote from and our team will take care of the rest!