Nellis Air Force Base
COINS FOR THE UNITS
AT NELLIS
Nellis carries a heavier coin tradition than most installations, because so much of the Air Force rotates through it. Between the host wing, the 57th Wing, the Weapons School and every unit that deploys here for a Red Flag period, there is almost always someone in the valley who needs a coin and a date they cannot move.
SQUADRON COINS, AND WHY THEY ARE NOT UNIT COINS
A wing coin and a squadron coin do different jobs and rarely look alike. The wing coin is formal — the shield, the full designation, the kind of piece handed over at an official function and put on a shelf. The squadron coin is the one that lives in a pocket, and it is usually louder: the patch design rather than the shield, the nickname rather than the number, and something on the back that only makes sense to people in the squadron.
The second kind is where the design conversation actually matters. Squadron heraldry is full of detail that does not survive being shrunk to 1.75 inches — thin lettering, a motto scroll, a mascot with a lot of internal line work. That is a real constraint of the die and the enamel, not a preference, and it is better dealt with at the proof than after the mold is cut.
Sculpted 3D relief is the usual answer for an aircraft or a mascot that flattens badly in two dimensions. It adds a mold cost, so it is worth deciding early rather than as a late upgrade.
EXERCISE AND DEPLOYMENT COINS
Coins made for a specific period or exercise are their own category. They are dated, they are usually a smaller run than a standing squadron coin, and the whole value of them is that they mark something that happened once — which means the date on the coin has to be right and the coin has to exist before everyone goes home.
Short runs are where the arithmetic works differently. Tooling and freight are close to fixed regardless of quantity, so on a 50-piece run they are most of the cost and the per-coin price looks high against a 500-piece quote. That is real, not a markup — it is why we show the price at several quantities rather than one, so you can see what stepping up actually costs.
At 300 pieces and over the mold fee comes off entirely, which for a unit ordering somewhere in the middle is usually the number worth knowing before deciding on a quantity.
GETTING THEM TO YOU
Nellis is inside the delivery radius, so finished coins are brought to you rather than shipped and tracked. For a squadron that means they arrive on a day you agreed rather than a day a carrier chose.
Read how local delivery works, or start with the designer if you want to see the coin before you talk to anyone. There is more on service-specific traditions on the Air Force challenge coins page.
Asked and answered
What people here ask first
- Can you turn a coin around before a Red Flag period ends?
- Sometimes, and the honest answer depends on how much of the period is left. Production runs about two to three weeks before freight, so a coin started in the first week of a period is realistic and one started in the last week is not. If the date is fixed, say so before the design conversation — it changes which finishes and add-ons are worth discussing at all.
- We are a visiting unit, not stationed here. Does local delivery help us?
- It can, if your coins are finished while you are still in the valley — we bring them to you rather than shipping to a home station you have already left. If the timeline runs past your departure, we ship to the home unit instead and the delivery is the part that changes, not the coin.
- What size works for a squadron coin people will actually carry?
- 1.75 inches is the most common and the one we would default to. Two inches reads better on a shelf and worse in a flight suit pocket. Anything at 2.5 inches or over is a presentation piece — good for a departure gift or a commander's coin, wrong for a coin meant to be on someone at all times.
- Can we do a coin the squadron pays for out of its own fund?
- That is most of what we do. Squadron and booster funds are not corporate budgets and we quote accordingly — the whole cost, including tooling and delivery, in one number, with no line that appears later. The mold is the one-time cost that surprises people, so it is on the quote from the start, and it comes off entirely at 300 pieces and up.
Elsewhere in the valley
Who else we build for here
- Creech AFB
Coins for the remotely piloted aircraft community, whose deployments look nothing like anyone else's and whose coins tend to say so.
- Nevada National Guard
Drill-weekend timelines, unit funds rather than corporate budgets, and coins that have to survive a deployment and a civilian job at the same time.
- Nevada, statewide
Reno, Carson City, Fallon and the rural counties. Outside the delivery radius, so everything ships — which changes the timeline, not the coin.
- Las Vegas Metro Police
Area command, SWAT, K-9, Search and Rescue and academy class coins for the largest police department in Nevada.
- Clark County Fire
Station and company coins for CCFD, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, Henderson and North Las Vegas — where the coin belongs to the house, not the department.
- Casino & hospitality
Service anniversary, host and security team coins for the property recognition programmes that run all year on this valley's largest employers.
- Conventions & trade shows
Booth coins for a show with a fixed date. The deadline is the whole job, and delivery to your hotel or the convention centre is the reason it works.
Ordering inside the valley? We deliver locally — no carrier, no tracking number, no waiting on a truck.