[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

They didn't have coins when I was in the military, you did you job or got a kick in the a$$, not a coin.

No disrespect to poster but I am just not familiar with them. My father was in the Air Force for 30 years retired as colonel, I was also in the Army and discharged (as a captain) following a tour in Germany, never heard of these things until recently.

In researching this topic I found articles making references to challenge coins dating back to Roman times. More recently to the Boer War, 1899. It probably existed in some form early in the US (WW1 era.)

Most likely the modern challenge coin tradition started around the 1970s and slowly grew legs. When I was comissioned in 1995 the tradition was in full force. Now and days you cannot risk being seen in uniform without having a challenge coin on your person.

A "coin check" consists of a challenge and a response. These are the most commonly accepted rules for the military coin check. They may vary from branch to branch and even unit to unit.

RULES:

The challenge is initiated by drawing your coin, holding it in the air by whatever means possible and state, scream shout or otherwise verbally acknowledge that you are initiating a coin check. Another, but less vocal method is to firmly place it on the bar, table, Or floor (this should produce an audible noise which can be easily heard by those being challenged, but try not to leave a permanent imprint). If you accidentally drop your coin and it makes an audible sound upon impact, then you have just "accidentally" initiated a coin check (This is called paying the price for improper care of your coin.)

The response consists of all those persons being challenged drawing their coin in a like manner (other organizational coins are invalid). You must produce a coin with YOUR UNIT'S LOGO on it If you are challenged and are unable to properly respond, you must buy a round of drinks for the challenger and the group being challenged If everyone being challenged responds in the correct manner the challenger must buy a round of drinks for all those people he challenged Failure to buy a round is a despicable crime and will require that you turn-in your Coin to the issuing agency.

Coin checks are permitted, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE'. (Keep OPSEC in mind, be smart!) There are no exceptions to the rules. They apply to those clothed or unclothed. At the time of the challenge you are permitted one step and an arms reach to locate your coin. If you still cannot reach it -- SORRY ABOUT THAT

A Coin is a coin
Coins attached on belt buckles are considered "belt buckles."
Coins on key chains are considered "key chains."
Coins placed in a "holder/clasp" and worn around the neck like a necklace are valid and are considered a coin

Here is an interesting article I found which certainly dates the coin challenge to at least 1991.


Taken from Soldiers Magazine
Aug 94 Vol 49, No 8
Story by Maj. Jeanne Fraser Brooks


Within days of his liberation from a prisoner of war camp, Sgt. Troy Dunlap received two Iraqi coins from an employee of the hotel where he and the other U.S. POWs were being housed by the Red Cross following their release."One for you and one for me," he told Maj. Rhonda Cornum who also had been taken prisoner when their UH-60 helicopter was shot down by members of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard during Operation Desert Storm. "We joked that we could use them like military coins... We planned how we would use the Iraqi money to 'coin' our friends when we got back to Fort Rucker," Cornum wrote in her book, "She Went to War.""Coining" is a relatively new U.S. military tradition, but has roots in the Roman Empire, where coins were presented to reward achievements. In the U.S. military, the tradition goes back to the early 1960s. A member of the 11th Specia Forces Group took old coins, had them over-stamped with a different emblem, then presented them to unit members, according to Roxanne Merritt, curator of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum at Fort Bragg, N.C A former commander of the 10th SFG picked up on the idea, becoming the first to mint a unit coin for a U.S. military unit. The 10th Group remained the only Army unit with its own coin until the mid-1980s, Merritt said, when "an explosion took place and everybody started minting coins." Originally, the coins, which bear the unit crest on the front and whatever design the unit wants on the back, were given out by commanders and sergeants major to recognize outstanding acts performed by soldiers in the course of duty"They're a real morale booster," said Duvall, "and tell the soldier, 'you're a member of our unit' which builds unit cohesion. The soldiers carry their credit card, driver's license and unit coin - their wallets are permanently deformed." Don Phillips, a former commander of the 20th SFG, designed a coin for his unit and presented it to his soldiers when he retired. "Another unit asked me to make a coin for them, and then another, so I went into business making them," said Phillips. To date, Phillips has made coins for "between 600 and 700 units." The tradition has spread to the other services and is even being adopted by paramilitary units like the U.S. Marshall's SWAT team according to Phillips. The proliferation of coins and their availability to the general public in post gift shops has caused

Dr. Joseph Fisher Special Operations Command historian, to view them as "not as special as they used to be; there are so many of them out there now." But that doesn't stop Fisher from carrying his with him at all times. them out there now." But that doesn't stop Fisher from carrying his with him at all times. Making the coins available for purchase has added yet another dimension to the tradition - collecting. SMA Richard A Kidd has approximately 300 of the coins on display in his office "museum." He has even issued an open invitation to soldiers visiting the Washington, D.C. area to stop by his office "even when I'm not here" to see his collection of unit memorabilia According to Phillips, World War II soldiers were given a coin when they mustered out of the service.

It wasn't until the Vietnam era that a "challenge-response" was added to the tradition of giving unit members a coin. The initial challenge was to prove membership in a particular unit by producing the unit coin. That was followed by the addition of the requirement to "buy a round" if a soldier didn't have the coin. "Buying a round isn't the only challenge these days," said Phillips. "Drinking is frowned on, so the challenge can be anything. If you don't have your coin, you get the detail." Kidd still uses the original premise in distributing coins and carries some with him whenever he travels. "It's a way to immediately recognize above-and-beyond - the-call-of-duty actions on the part of a soldier when you're in the field," said Kidd.