August 3, 2026

President Hendricks Interviewed By MOAA Magazine

Understanding The Challenge Behind the Coin

July 27, 2026   Photo by Greg L. Davis/Air Force

(This article by Todd Gilchrist originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Military Officer magazine pages 38-39.)

Challenge coins, designed to commemorate a vessel, unit, facility, or accomplishment, maintain a lineage spanning multiple centuries and cultures. Believed to have been first minted during the Roman Empire to reward soldiers who excelled in battle, these keepsakes proved meaningful to their recipients.

Today, these exonumia tend to confer bragging rights — and, in social settings, a round of beers — as much as they serve as a barometer of achievement. But even in an era where coin usage has decreased as a form of legal tender, the presentation and exchange of challenge coins remain a venerated military tradition.

“I think these are one of the simplest but most genuine ways to recognize somebody,” said Brig. Gen. Francis “Fran” Hendricks, USAF (Ret), a MOAA Life member. “It really comes across as very personalized when you give somebody a coin and tell them: ‘Thank you for a great job.’”

Over his 30-plus years of service, Hendricks has both received and given out challenge coins — the latter in the line of service, as head of MOAA’s Northwest Florida Chapter and as president of Mansfield University.

“The neat thing about coins is even though they’re small, you can put a lot of history on it,” he said.

Regardless of an individual’s military status, recipients are marked for inclusion in a notable event, such as when Hendricks received his promotion to brigadier general. “I gave them out to my family members and people in the community who attended,” he said. “I just wanted them to know how important they were in my life.”

 The earliest recorded production of U.S. challenge coins was during World War I. As one story goes, a wealthy lieutenant had ordered bronze medallions for his flying squadron, choosing to wear his in a pouch around his neck. Later on, after he was shot down over Germany, enemy forces captured the American officer and took away identifiable items to prevent his escape. Eventually, he ended up at a French outpost where he presented one of the coins bearing his squadron’s insignia as proof of his Allied bona fides.

During World War II, they were similarly issued by U.S. government agencies, such as the Office of Strategic Services, to verify allies in the field. The initial characterization of “challenge” — marking an individual’s or unit’s commitment to the challenge of their orders — stems from the Vietnam War era, when infantry-run saloons would force those in other branches to buy everyone there drinks, unless they could prove they’d been in combat. The coin became a means of proof.

 “People were showing up at the bar saying they were in combat,” Hendricks said. “But if you weren’t part of the 10th Special Forces Group — that’s the Green Berets — they basically would throw you out.”

Hendricks noted the look of a challenge coin is limited only by one’s artistic ability — “and I’m very limited,” he admitted. Companies that produce custom collectibles, like veteran-owned KidderCorp, do a lot of the heavy lifting in translating a designer’s vision into a freshly minted reality.

(Remainder of article is truncated. Click HERE to read the full article.)

Todd Gilchrist is a writer based in Los Angeles.

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