Challenge Coin Rules

[Eclipse]

These are the most succinct and reasonable coin check rules I have seen in print.  They are reprinted from coinforce.com

Like a lot of military traditions CAP has borrowed, challenge coins are something that some members "get" (figuratively and literally), and some members don't.

I have seen cadets carrying a bag containing all their coins (and known at least one who had them stolen, which to me is the height of slimy), and boast about how one coin is "higher" than another - hint: its not Pokemon, guys.

I carry a weathered coin from my unit, and on occasion swap it out for one more appropriate to the group I'll be with (encampment, SARDog, etc.).  I've also received a number of coins as gifts, usually in trade, from other agencies and organizations, but I'd never answer a challenge with them.

To me the #1 rule in CAP should be only challenging members who you have a reasonable certainty actually have one.

Note: A "Coin Check" consists of a Challenge and a Response.

1. RULES:
A. 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.)

B. The response consists of all those persons being challenged drawing their coin in a like manner.

C. 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.

D. If everyone being challenged responds in the correct manner, the challenger must buy a round of drinks for all those people they challenged.

E. Failure to buy a round is a despicable crime and will require that you turn-in your Coin to the issuing agency.

2. WHEN - WHERE:
A. Coin checks are permitted, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE.

3. EXCEPTIONS:
A. 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!

4. A COIN IS A COIN

[lordmonar]

Rule 4 is not necessarily a hard and fast rule.  Generally speaking in a mixed group a coin is a coin....but in a particular unit (such as the 1st Combat Comm Squadron) there is a specific hierarchy of coins....all of them are 1st CCSQ coins.

Also there is the pfennig check....if everyone has a coin....you pull out your German pfennigs (pennies)...the person with the oldest coin wins.

[afgeo4]

There is a rule that challenges do not apply to civilian personnel that may be present at the bar.

Anyone know the real history behind the coin challenge?

[Trung Si Ma]

Anyone know the real history behind the coin challenge?

I can tell you what I was told when I got my first coin back in '73...

The coins started in 10th Group and spread fairly rapidly through SF.  At the time, we didn't have that jumbo tab to let someone know that you were flash qualified when you weren't "under the hat" (assigned to an authorized SF postion).  Anybody could claim to have been SF, but without their records in front of you (or a trusted agent to verify), you couldn't call them on it.  Prior to Robin Moore's book, you could ask them the things like "What is the difference between ROBIN SAGE and GOBBLER WOODS?" or "What is the Gabriel Training Area used for?" and they probably didn't know the correct answers.

The original coins were a "Been There, Done That" kind of thing but were despised by the "real" Army.  And like Shinsiki and the Rangers Beret, soon everyone had them.  I get 8 - 10 of them a year doing my job and I give them all to my secretary because she thinks they're cute.

My original coin and the three or four others that are important to me are in the safe deposit box.  I usually carry a generic Jumpmaster coin whenever I feel the need.

[AlphaSigOU]

Embarrassing lesson learned... when I was at the Randolph air show last year one night we were unwinding at the basement bar of the Randolph O-Club - the (in)famous Auger Inn. Our RealAirForce host did a coin check on us, and needless to say I was caught without. Buy a round for the table...

I now keep a coin in my wallet just in case. Never again...

[RRLE]

Anyone know the real history behind the coin challenge?

History of the challenge coin 

[sarmed1]

My SCUBA instructor drops a coin (that he carries in his wet suit) on day 3, so first night in the deep end of the pool (like 12 ft) usually any divemaster assisting is in on the game.  Being that we trained at Hurlburt Field their are usually 1 or 2 active duty folks every class, its great to see the expressions as they realized they just got coin checked underwater....I actually heard one of them drop a MF bomb one night...

so I always carry at least 1 on me all the time....usually the unit of assignment, if they dont have one I have both a HMRS coin and a SWTC coin....

mk

[Eclipse]

Awesome, that's what its all about, having fun with the idea without being an...well having fun with it.   

[winterg]

While serving as a helo chief with the Twin Huey Team, AFSOCTF I received the coin I still carry on my person to this day.  Our coins are numbered with the unit maintaining a record of all coins issued should any future person question that the holder served with AF Rescue.

Funny story, we were swapping crews for a protracted mission and I crawled under my Huey on the deck to do my thruflight.  My coin rolled out of pocket and made a distinct sound heard by both shifts.  It sounded like it was raining coins.  Ended up, I had to buy drinks for all members of Shadow Flight.  Very expensive.  I moved the coin to my wallet after that incident.  I even have a wallet that has a spot made for a challenge coin.

http://www.specopsbrand.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=10# 

[davedove]

There is one addition that I have seen.  If someone fails to produce a coin and has to buy the round, it is very ungentlemanly to continue to issue challenges that evening, knowing he will have to continually buy the drinks.

Subsequent nights are fair game.

[SilverEagle2]

Funny thing. Friend of mine bought a car out of Vegas and came back and handed me this coin. He said it was in the crack of the front seat. Knowing that I had a military background, he said I could have it.

I never knew what it was until now. This one is quite nice. It is from an F-15 group.

Thanks for the info. Means more now.

[Major Carrales]

Numismatically speaking, a challenge "coin" is actually a medal.  You see, a coin has its obverse and reverse opposed to one another.  Thus, if I hold a quarter with Washington facing me and rotate it along the y-axis, the reverse will appear "upsidedown."  If the same is done with a challenge coin, the obverse and reverse will both appear "right-side-up."

Coins also, carry monetary value for a nation-state or other political entity, while medals (and medallions) normally carry some ceremonial, commemorative or other honorific title.

A slight trip via semantics avenue.  I will also grant that they are "called" coins in popular usage...however, I would then have to pull reality on the "There are no Class A and Class B uniforms in CAP" ranters who would take to calling Challenge Coins coins when they are in fact medals.

[G+10]

When I was active duty in any of the 37 ARRS dets (now flights) or in the 1st Heli you could initiate a challenge just by mentioning the word coin. We always referred to them as "RMO's" (round metallic objects). Of course this could have just been a AF helicopter thing.

I always thought that was unusually harsh...

John Gniewkowski

[AlphaSigOU]

When I was active duty in any of the 37 ARRS dets (now flights) or in the 1st Heli you could initiate a challenge just by mentioning the word coin. We always referred to them as "RMO's" (round metallic objects). Of course this could have just been a AF helicopter thing.

I always thought that was unusually harsh...

Must be an aircrew (more specifically a fighter jock) thing... along the same lines as saying 'deceased insect' instead of 'dead bug'. Or other words  like 'cranium' for 'head' that may have a double meaning, unless you add 'so to speak'.

[winterg]

When I was active duty in any of the 37 ARRS dets (now flights) or in the 1st Heli you could initiate a challenge just by mentioning the word coin. We always referred to them as "RMO's" (round metallic objects). Of course this could have just been a AF helicopter thing.

I always thought that was unusually harsh...

Must be an aircrew (more specifically a fighter jock) thing... along the same lines as saying 'deceased insect' instead of 'dead bug'. Or other words  like 'cranium' for 'head' that may have a double meaning, unless you add 'so to speak'.

For more references to this terminology see the band, "Dos Gringos."  http://www.dosgringosrocks.com/home.html

[Cecil DP]

I don't believe in the coin game. Too many of them are sold commercially and they have no significance.  BTW you can be held to the rules,  only if you want to play the game.

[winterg]

I don't believe in the coin game. Too many of them are sold commercially and they have no significance.  BTW you can be held to the rules,  only if you want to play the game.

Just because the "tradition" (not game) has changed in recent years doesn't change the fact that to many of us it is a custom worth upholding.  I work as a bartender while I'm back in college in a bar that has a high percentage of veterans.  And I can tell you that the practice of challenge coins is alive in well and carried out in the manner and spirit in which it was intended.  If we, who are the inheritors of a tradition passed to us by those who came before, don't carry that tradition on then I believe that is shameful.  No disrespect intended Lt. Col., honest, just my 2% of a dollar.

[Major Carrales]

I don't believe in the coin game. Too many of them are sold commercially and they have no significance.  BTW you can be held to the rules,  only if you want to play the game.

I really wish that the coins were only available at an activity, or give at them.  Thsi would provide a bit more significance to the "coin game."

I carry a Texas Wing ES coin...

[lordmonar]

I disagree.....They are supposed to build unit morale.  Sure activites can use them too...but every unit can too.

[Eclipse]

The coins are an echo and indicator just like everything else in CAP.

Whether its grade, ribbons, badges, or coins, they mean the most to the person wearing or possessing them.

Its about shared experience and camaraderie.  If you make it into anything more that that you're missing the point.

[Major Carrales]

I disagree.....They are supposed to build unit morale.  Sure activites can use them too...but every unit can too.

Your talking about unit medals..."challenge coins".  I don't see how that would mean anything much to me, being from a different unit, as opposed to having a "challenge coin" from the, let's say, Texas Wing Encampment or Region Staff College.

I understood it to work like this...

1) Myself and others attend the school or encampment or other occasion.

2) We complete the activity and acquire the "challenge coin." 

3) A while later I encounter the others, or hear some fellow talking about the occasion.

4) I thus challenge the individual with my coin, if they fail to produce, then they procure the meal or libation or what ever.

The Unit coins would serve the same function, providing you meet someone who used to be in your unit.

[lordmonar]

The point being...if you are not in my unit.....I don't care if you got a coin or not.  It is my unit that counts.  So even if I had a "god thought I was good" coin from an NCSA I would still carry my squadron coin.

It is cool that you got your encampment coin...and it is cool that you keep that esprit de corps....but it is better if you get and keep that same spirit with your home unit.  My home unit is 99% more important than anything else I have done in CAP.

YMMV.

[Major Carrales]

It is cool that you got your encampment coin...and it is cool that you keep that esprit de corps....but it is better if you get and keep that same spirit with your home unit.  My home unit is 99% more important than anything else I have done in CAP.

Wow...who would have thought that the Nellis WING was so cool?   Our unit does not yet have a coin and I agree that the local part of CAP is the best, but I don't see your animosity toward event coins.

Its not that "I went to XXX activity, so I am better than you" mentality, its "I went to this, so did you...have you with you your coin?" 

[kpetersen]

Wow...who would have thought that the Nellis WING was so cool?   Our unit does not yet have a coin and I agree that the local part of CAP is the best, but I don't see your animosity toward event coins.

Its not that "I went to XXX activity, so I am better than you" mentality, its "I went to this, so did you...have you with you your coin?" 

If you could only challenge people who went to the same activity as you, with the coin received from that activity, people would have to carry way too many coins with them.  By that count, I would have 6 activity coins alone, plus one for whichever unit I was currently assigned to. 

As to the comparing coins thing, funniest thing I saw was at NBB in 2006 at the final banquet.  Someone posted a coin check, so there were dozens on the table.  Since there was no way of proving who did not yet have a coin, the Commadant of Cadets opted to find the highest rated coin: two people had our former National CC's coin, and one person had a 2 star adjutant general coin.  The CAP one "won" because we were at a CAP activity...

Proof that coin checks are not equal across the board: I tried coin checking a retired army brig gen at a friend's wedding.  He didn't have a coin on him, so he tried trading me an army of one pin for my coin.  He thought coins were only presented; when they were, people swapped coins.

[Major Carrales]

If you could only challenge people who went to the same activity as you, with the coin received from that activity, people would have to carry way too many coins with them.  By that count, I would have 6 activity coins alone, plus one for whichever unit I was currently assigned to. 

Well, that's part of the game now isn't it.  You carry the one you value the most (as was said) if you are challenged and prove lacking...then you pay the price.

I don't know...as I said, I only carry one "TEXAS WING EMERGENCY SERVICES."

[Eclipse]

My unit coin is always in the wallet, so coin me at your own risk.   

When I'm at encampment, I carry the encampment coin in my pocket.

On a mission I grab the SARDog for luck.

If I'm going to see the guys that I went South with in '05 in an ES context, I'll usually throw that one in the pocket.

Otherwise the rest of them stay in the display as they were likely exchanged with other commanders, etc.

The key here is responding with a coin that is "yours", and again, doing it in good spirit.  Units that have their own traditions are fine, but then those traditions should be held locally.

[lordmonar]

It is cool that you got your encampment coin...and it is cool that you keep that esprit de corps....but it is better if you get and keep that same spirit with your home unit.  My home unit is 99% more important than anything else I have done in CAP.

Wow...who would have thought that the Nellis WING was so cool?   Our unit does not yet have a coin and I agree that the local part of CAP is the best, but I don't see your animosity toward event coins.

Its not that "I went to XXX activity, so I am better than you" mentality, its "I went to this, so did you...have you with you your coin?" 

Oh...I don't have any animosity toward event coins....but you stated that you wish coins were only available at events.  Hense you were trying take away from me (a unit) a valuable tool for morale.  I think even coins are cool...I got my NESA coin...but I carry my unit coin, because my unit is more important then NESA.  And on the off chance we coin someone from outside the unit...and he wants to play....any coin will do in a jam. 

[Major Carrales]

It is cool that you got your encampment coin...and it is cool that you keep that esprit de corps....but it is better if you get and keep that same spirit with your home unit.  My home unit is 99% more important than anything else I have done in CAP.

Wow...who would have thought that the Nellis WING was so cool?   Our unit does not yet have a coin and I agree that the local part of CAP is the best, but I don't see your animosity toward event coins.

Its not that "I went to XXX activity, so I am better than you" mentality, its "I went to this, so did you...have you with you your coin?" 

Oh...I don't have any animosity toward event coins....but you stated that you wish coins were only available at events.  Hense you were trying take away from me (a unit) a valuable tool for morale.  I think even coins are cool...I got my NESA coin...but I carry my unit coin, because my unit is more important then NESA.  And on the off chance we coin someone from outside the unit...and he wants to play....any coin will do in a jam. 

Hummmmm....can't say I want to fight you, or anyone over this.  I don't recall my wishes equaling CAP Policy and I don't also find UNIT numistmatics to be anything really bad.  If any coin will work...so be it!!!  Now, sell me one of your coins...PM the details.