Designing a challenge coin can be tough if it's your first time doing it. Planning a design requires a keen eye for art and creativity. You will need to consider the lettering style, the images to include, whether you want it plain or 3D, and all the details that you want to appear in your coin. This page shows some of the basic coin features that you will choose from when creating a custom challenge coin.

• Plating is the metal finish and is typically nickel or gold, but there are special finishes for antique and other effects.
• Enamel - soft enamel is a baked in color using low heat and often looks recessed compared to the metal of a coin, while hard enamel is baked at high tempratures to melt the glass and it is buffed to a smooth height with the metal. Enamel colors are virtually limitless.
• Epoxy protects soft enamel, but over time it can scratch or turn tinted yellow.
• Coin edges can be plain or decorative in many different and unlimited designs.
• Backgrounds can be textured in about a dozen different ways. Other backgrounds are available like sandblasting and matte paint.
• Numbers can be punched or laser etched if you want to inventory or limit the number of coins circulated.
• 3D coins are unique and the 3D area cannot be colored, all the details are in the mold. 3D can be plated with any finish choice. Most coins have two levels of metal and are often filled with color (using a raised rim of metal to separate colors) whereas 3D coins have three or more levels of metal used to create the design.
• Other features not shown here, like odd-shaped Challenge Coins are available if you want get away from the normal circle.