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Collecting Challenge Coins
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A Challenge coin is a coin that has a military emblem right on the coin. The origins of the coins have been the topic for debate for where they came from. More than one branch of service says they were the first ones to come up with the idea and everyone just followed. The most common story is that the United States Army Air Service began the tradition. The story goes, as the air warfare was starting the in First World War, the army has created the first flying squadrons and they had very walk of life manning them. Some of the men were working class and others were Ivy League scholars.
The story goes that one of the Ivy League guys who was a very well to do lieutenant had ordered small solid bronze coins, so he could present them to his platoon as kind of a reminder of their time in war. The coin was gold plated and it had the Air Force insignia on it making the coin very valuable. To make a long story short, one pilot kept the coin in a pouch around his neck so he would not lose it, that pilot was captured by the Germans, but they did not find the bag with the coin.
The pilot escaped one night and he managed to avoid the Germans by stealing some civilian clothes. He made his way across the land to the French patrol, he had no ID and could not prove he was an American as they prepared to execute him, they found the coin and the coin basically saved his life.
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