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Employee Recognition Coins

At Signature Coins, 26 years of experience have given us a particular insight into the benefits of custom corporate coins. In addition to increasing the productivity and morale of your current employees, as news of your custom challenge coins spreads, the appeal of your company culture of recognition will make your organization a very appealing place for applicants. Don’t allow your employees’ anniversaries and various personal accomplishments go unrecognized and unrewarded for another day.

Custom employee recognition coins that increase retention and productivity

What Are Employee Recognition Coins?

Like so many traditions, the history of challenge coins can be traced back to the military. As ex-military members started transitioning into roles in the private sector, the tradition of recognizing soldiers for going above and beyond and marking certain progression milestones began to spread into the corporate world.

It’s not surprising that this practice would be at home within the business world where there’s such a striking correlation between recognition and job satisfaction. Studies have shown that seven out of 10 employees who say they’ve received some sort of appreciation from their supervisor report that they’re happy within their job. When employees do not receive that recognition for their work, only 39 percent claim to be happy at work. It’s no secret that happy employees perform their jobs well and remain with their companies longer.

Custom work anniversary employee recognition coins

Occasions for Employee Recognition Coins

In the military, custom challenge coins are often earned when a soldier completes basic training, is inducted into a new unit, or completes a specific mission. While it might seem like the occasions for earning challenge coins are more obvious in the armed forces, that shouldn’t suggest that occasions within corporate life are scarce.

Some of the general times when you might reward an employee with a recognition coin are as follows:

  • The anniversary of their hire date
  • The completion of a major project
  • Upon being named an employee of the month
  • Achievement of a sales or production goal
  • Landing a new account
  • At the completion of the employee probationary period
  • The implementation of one of their ideas/suggestions
  • In recognition of a raise or promotion
  • Completion of a specific training program or the acquisition of a new skillset
  • In recognition of a moment when they’ve gone above and beyond expectations

Employee recognition coins don’t have to only be tied to on-the-job accomplishments either. If you have an employee going through classes or schooling related to the duties they’re performing, you could present them with a coin upon the completion of their class.

Custom Boeing 777 team employee recognition coins with presentation packaging

Custom Corporate Coins Made Easy

Signature Coins created its design and order process with busy business leaders like you in mind. We know how many different tasks you’ve got to juggle each day, so our highly dedicated service experts are here to help you through all three steps in the custom corporate coins ordering process.

  1. Submit Your Request: You have multiple options for delivering your request to us. You can call, email or submit one of our easy to fill out quote request forms online.
  2. Design: Perhaps you know what you want your custom challenge coins to say and where the company logo should go, but not much more than that. Our team of artists is here to work with you to come up with the perfect, unique design for your coins. After placing your quote request, our artists will get back to you in 24 hours with the first proof. From there, you’ve got unlimited free revisions until we come up with the best design for you.
  3. Order: When you’ve selected a design you’re happy with and submitted your order, our industry-leading turnaround time will ensure your coins are delivered in 14-16 days. All shipments are made via UPS Red Label at no additional charge to you.
Custom employee recognition coins made for Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola, Google, Pandora, and NASA

Who We’ve Worked With

When you come to Signature Coins for your corporate coin needs, you not only benefit from our 15 years of experience, you’re also partnering with an organization who has created coins for some of the top Fortune 500 companies in the country.

Some of the companies we’ve made employee recognition coins for in the past include:

  • Coca-Cola
  • Facebook
  • NASA
  • Godiva
  • Harvard
  • Microsoft
  • Allstate
  • Amazon
  • Red Bull
  • NASCAR
  • Hyatt Regency
  • ADP
  • Home Depot
  • KFC

And that’s just the beginning. What we’ve learned from working with corporate giants is just as easily applicable to smaller size companies as well. Take advantage of our skills and information and let Signature Coins help to make your employees lives special.

Excellence award employee recognition coins on display stands

The difference between a happy employee and an unhappy employee, an employee that stays and one that starts looking elsewhere, can be as simple as feeling recognized and appreciated for what they do. Take a few minutes to call, email or submit a quote request form today and watch as the perception of your company changes overnight.

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Custom Challenge Coin Pricing

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 Challenge Coin Edge Options

Standard Flat Edge
Price: per coin
Rope Edge
Price: per coin
Spur Edge
Price: per coin
Flat Weave Bevel Edge
Price: per coin
Oblique Edge
Price: per coin
Cross Cut Edge
Price: per coin

Custom Challenge Coin Plating Options

Antique Gold
Price: per coin
Antique Silver
Price: per coin
Antique Copper
Price: per coin
High-Polish Gold
Price: per coin
High-Polish Silver
Price: per coin
Dual-Plating
Price: per side per coin

Additional Challenge Coin Options

Spinner Challenge Coins
Interactive coins where part of the coin is designed to spin or rotate freely.
Pricing depends on size and complexity
Challenge Coin Cut Outs
Not only can the outer shape of the coin be customized, but the interior areas can be “cut out” as well
Price: per cut out
3D Challenge Coins
3D coins have an unlimited number of sculpted levels. We can round edges and create smooth gradations.
Price:
Sequential Numbering
The perfect option for anyone looking for trackable coins or just a fun way to make every coin a little more special.
Price: per coin
Glow in the Dark
Choosing from our selection of glow enamels ensures your design will continue to shine even when the lights go out.
Price: per coin
Edge Engraving
Not only can you design the front and back of your coins, but the true edge can be engraved with messages as well.
Price: per coin

Common Challenge Coin Questions

A challenge coin is usually a metal coin or medallion, bearing an organization's insignia, emblem or logo and carried by the organization's members. Traditionally, challenge coins were used by the military and displayed by service men and women to prove exclusive membership when challenged, and to enhance the military units' morale.

Historically, challenge coins were awarded by military unit commanders in recognition of special achievement made by a member of the unit. They are also known to be exchanged and traded during recognition visits to different international organizations, bases and service tours. These coins have been heavily collected by active and retired service members and law enforcement personnel for years.

Modern challenge coins are made in a variety of sizes and often include popular culture references such as superheroes as well as known characters in a parody. Many companies today are using them to build morale in teams, link people with similar interests and even to promote their brand. Challenge coin designs today are pushing the boundary of what a challenge coin could mean or be used for. One thing is for sure, personalized coins further strengthen the sense of bond within people that both give and receive them.

Challenge coins are often used as a physical token or symbol to represent membership to an organization, unit, or team.

Challenge coins also serve as a lasting personal award for anyone that has received one. Since they are custom and long lasting, challenge coins serve well to commemorate the time and experience put in to overcome overwhelming obstacles or the extraordinary effort and sacrifice needed to reach a given achievement. These keepsake coins become a life long reminder of the achievements made.

Our bravest first responder services also have a history of using challenge coins. Whether for fire departments, emergency medical technicians or law enforcement officers, challenge coins have been used to award bravery, acts of heroism and department camaraderie.

Many companies today have been started by veterans, or are veteran owned and are beginning to use the challenge coin tradition to help represent accomplishments in their businesses. This modern approach to awarding challenge coins has garnered some criticism from the traditionalists. Signature Coins has been making challenge coins for 20 plus years, and we see more and more companies joining in on awarding custom challenge coins to customers, staff, and volunteers. They are using them to build morale in teams, link people with similar interests and even to promote their brand or charities.

Generally speaking you give someone a challenge coin when you want to honor them for a good deed or for their hard work.

Challenge coins still play a major role in the military today, much like a "Thank you Plus" or "Great Job Plus". In the armed forces not every action rates an honorable medal or certificate, for those moments when someone is deserving of more than a thank you, awarding them with a challenge coin fills the gap.

As a very simple miltary example. You're out on a 3 day field op. One of your guys or gals busts their butt during a particularly stressful couple hours of it. Shows great attitude, effort, and was overal top notch. If you tried to write it up, it wouldn't "quite" be "award worthy" but definitely deserved "recognition."

Now even if you're not a veteran or a member of the armed forces, you can still recognize and award someone with custom challenge coins.

You can use challenge coins to reward employees after the completion of a special project or if huge accomplishments have been made company wide. The coin design can be representative of the achievement, the employee or the company goals. Studies show when employees are recognized for a job well done, they feel more satisfied with their job performance, are more likely to reach for higher goals, and are more loyal to their organizations.

Finding the right time and place to give someone a challenge coin can be, well, a bit challenging.

  • Military tradition has a few ways of approaching this honor. One being "The Secret Handshake" where commanding officers, department officials or the president himself would shake a soldiers hand and "slip" them the coin via the handshake. Transferring the coin shouldn't be dramatic or obvious, like a quiet wink and a nod, this honor is more personal to the people giving and receieving the award and less ceremonial. Although a bit more obvious, another military tradition is to hand them out in front of a formation or during a meeting, but it's more commonly done one on one.

  • As more civilians and businesses use challenge coins, they have taken a more ceremonious and inclusive approach to awarding them. When looking to give a challenge coin to an employee or team member most businesses will do it during a team meeting. Some businesses have even integrated their employee award recognition into their annual and quarterly ceremonies. Awarding their employees in front of others can be a great way to show the rest of the team that you too can be "recognized" if the effort is there.

  • Modern marketers are also finding that custom challenge coins make for great business cards, so many high end service providers, such as lawyers, accountants and commercial developers are now giving their custom coins out as a means of promoting themselves or their business offerings.

Challenge coins typically cost $3.00 -$5.00 per coin for a full production run of 100 coins generally speaking.

More specifically though, it depends. Challenge coin pricing is dependent on a variety of factors including size, quantity, and coloration. Your organization's insignia or logo, as well as the brand standards surrounding it, will often dictate coloration. The level of complexity, industry standards, and personal preference will dictate the size of the coin.

You can view our challenge coin pricing here.

Designing challenge coins is a lot of fun, but there's also a ton of things to think about before getting started. Luckily, we have years of experience making custom coins, and we're happy to help you every step of the way.

We have put together a how-to guide that will tell you everything you need to know about challenge coin design.

Challenge Coin Design 101: A How-To Guide For Creating Challenge Coins