Custom Challenge Coins in Brass and Zinc

A challenge coin is a small metal coin struck with a unit, department or team emblem and carried in a pocket rather than displayed on a shelf. It is handed over in person to mark membership, a milestone or a job done well. Custom challenge coins are made in brass or zinc alloy and usually measure between 1.5 and 3 inches across.

Choose brass when weight matters and zinc when it does not. Brass blanks here are heavyweight pieces, and that heft is what registers when the coin is handed over. Zinc alloy coins take the same die struck detail and the same plating tones in a lighter body, which also keeps the freight weight down on a large run.

A coin meant to be carried daily works best at 1.5 to 2 inches, which sits inside a closed hand. A presentation or commemorative coin usually runs 2.5 to 3 inches, where the wider face gives detailed artwork room to read. Diameters offered here are 1.5, 1.75, 2, 2.25, 2.5, 2.75 and 3 inches, all at 0.118 inches thick. Brass covers 1.5 to 2.75 inches, and the 1.75 inch and 3 inch coins come in zinc.

Three: no color fill, four colors on one side, and four colors on both sides. No color fill leaves the design as struck relief in the plated metal. Four colors on one side is the common choice when the reverse carries a crest or text, and four colors on both sides finishes the coin so neither face reads as the plain one. Two sided color is offered up to 2.5 inches; above that, pick no color fill or four colors on one side.

The minimum is 100 pieces on every coin here, in brass and in zinc, with and without color fill. Tell us the diameter, the metal and the color fill you want and we will confirm the minimum and the price for that blank before you commit.

Yes, and most buyers use both faces. On a no color fill coin both faces are die struck, so front and back designs are pressed into the metal. On a one sided coin the color goes on one face and the reverse is left as struck relief. Send separate front and back files and both faces appear on the proof.

Edge treatment is not one of the listed options on these coins. What varies across the range is the metal, the diameter, the plating tone and how far the color fill goes, and every blank here is 0.118 inches thick. Ask before you order if you need a specific edge and we will check what your blank supports.

Plating tones listed across these coins include antique copper, antique gold, antique silver, copper, gold, silver and dyed black. The list varies by blank, and some carry all seven, including the 1.5 inch brass coin and the 1.75 inch zinc coin. Antique and plain versions of copper, gold and silver are offered on the same blank.

Military units and first responders are the groups these coins are named for, and organizations, clubs and corporate teams order the same blanks. These coins mark events and special milestones, so orders are usually placed ahead of a ceremony, a retirement or an anniversary rather than kept as stock. They are carried in a pocket, not put on a shelf.