Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Military Coins

Challenge coins have been around for a very long time. Although no one knows their exact origin challenge coins are collected worldwide, mainly by military groups and members of the armed forces.

Military tradition carries a rich history of challenge coins and is carried by members of specific organizations. They got their name from members being able to prove their membership through a challenge.

During the times of world war one, a rich air force lieutenant was said to have given each member of his squadron a small coin as memento of their service together. Military coins quickly became tradition for all members of any squadron to carry their challenge coins at all time.

The challenge coin is also a morale boosting tool and a show of unity amongst squadrons and is often used in bar and drinking games. Challenge coins are often drawn to see if everybody is carrying their unit coin, if not the person or persons who fail to produce their unit coin must forfeit and buy a round of drinks.

A challenge coin now-a-days is often used as a collector’s item but are often military in their appearance. However, challenge coins have now spread and have become popular with other sectors such as Harley Davidson.

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