I had an interesting discussion the other day with a colonel who was looking to do something different with his challenge coins. He considered using them as trading coins. Here is how his idea would work:
Coining People Doing Something Good
He proposes to give out several examples of the same challenge coin. The company commanders have bronze, the sergeant major has silver and he has gold. Each one of the coins has a “value” Two bronze coins equals one silver coin and two silver coins equal one gold coin. The soldier can trade the coins he/she has earned for the next higher award. Once one gets the colonel’s gold coin he can “temporarily” trade it for a four day weekend.
I really like to see people thinking about making challenge coins fun. Some would say this is corny but it is elegant in a couple of aspects.
1. It gets every level of the chain of command involved in the program.
2. It tangibly awards soldiers at the point of their good deeds.
3. It recognizes the soldiers at all levels.
4. It lets people who would otherwise not be authorized coins to have them to present.
Kudos to this colonel. He is really thinking outside of the box.