If you walk through a cemetery around Memorial Day, there's a possibility you'll find military challenge coins placed on the tops of headstones. Challenge coins are small metal tokens engraved with emblems. They're a revered part of military culture.
The Emerald caught up with Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown to talk about what these small metal tokens mean. Brown served in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps from 2003 to 2007, and during his military service, Brown achieved the rank of captain, completed the Basic Airborne Course, and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
YK: Tell me about what challenge coins are.
NB: It's a common thing in the U.S. military to commemorate significant events, achievements, and service. People in most branches and ranks award people in the service with a coin to say thank you or good job.
The military gives formal awards that you wear on certain uniforms, and you get certificates — all that is part of the culture, but the coin has always felt a bit different to me as a unique, personal thank you. A commander or a senior leader will hand these out for personal recognition of a job well done to someone in their command.
Coins are often given in recognition of accomplishing some challenge. It might be for someone who planned and led a big conference that was hard and messy, or for recognizing someone's career, time, and service — or for accomplishing a physical feat.
The tradition has always been that you coin someone by having [the challenge coin] in your hand when you shake hands with the person you give it to. You transfer it to them inside the handshake. When you receive an award or formal recognition, the coin is the cherry on top.
My understanding is [that challenge coin culture] spread from the military to law enforcement [culture] and then to other government agencies.
When I was in the Department of Justice [DOJ], it was pretty common for DOJ leaders to have a coin. That spread more broadly to other government agencies. The president has a coin. They're meant to be given out, somewhat sparingly, and when I was in the DOJ, there were rules about how much money you could spend on [challenge] coins and how they were kept.
YK: How are they used around Memorial Day?
NB: Your average citizen might think about Memorial Day as a long weekend and sales and barbecues, but Memorial Day is meant to commemorate folks who have died in service for their country, and so it has a solidity that's really important.
Coins are used around Memorial Day. There are people who will coin people's gravestones to say thank you and recognize their sacrifice. I've seen coins given to family members of people who have served or who have died as a thank you and recognition of their family member's service. They're used as another way to recognize people who have died in the service of their country during Memorial Day week, and it's the discretion of the person who [gives a coin] when they decide to offer it.
YK: I've also heard about people leaving cash coins at headstones in the cemetery.
NB: Yeah, you'll see some [cash] coins on gravestones. From the penny to the quarter, each coin has a different meaning.
The meaning of different types of coins left at a gravestone: Penny: Someone has visited the grave to pay their respects. Nickel: The person who left the coin served with the deceased service member at boot camp. Dime: The person who left the coin served with the deceased service member. Quarter: The person who left this coin was physically with the deceased service member at the time they died.
YK: How many coins do you have?
NB: If you're in the military or law enforcement, people might have a coin board in their office, much like you might have a certificate or an award on the wall. It's not uncommon for people to have their coins in a display case. I have 50 or 60, and I currently just have them laying in my office on the windowsill. I like having them out. It's a reflection of my background and past, and people are curious about them.
YK: Do you have stories about significant coins?
NB: Some coins are more lighthearted than others. Early on in my career, the coin that I was most proud of was after I went [through the] Army Airborne Course, after I learned how to jump out of airplanes. I think they coined everybody in the class, but that was a hard three weeks, and I was really happy to get that coin. It was a cool-looking coin.
There's been a couple law enforcement partners who have given me a coin in recognition of our collaboration on a particular case or operation. When I was in the DOJ, I got a couple coins from my law enforcement colleagues in the FBI or Homeland Security or other organizations where we worked on cases together — harder or more complex ones.
Then, I had the opportunity to meet and spend much of a day with President Biden when he was in town, and part of that day was him presenting me a coin, which is pretty cool. So it's nice to have a coin from POTUS.
We have many veterans in Washington State, and their family members. Sometimes it's easy to forget about them, even though they're prevalent here. Putting people's personal lives and political beliefs aside, people signed up and died in a cause for their fellow countrymen, and that's powerful to me.
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