A federal law enforcement team in Nashville wanted a coin shaped like a guitar pick. As a veteran-owned coin company, we design custom shapes like this for units, agencies, and field offices, with free artwork and unlimited revisions on every project.
A Coin Shaped Like a Guitar Pick
A guitar pick isn’t a shape most coin makers work with often. The triangular form has less usable surface than a round coin, and none of the symmetry a circle offers to lay artwork against evenly. Every element has to be planned around three curved corners instead of one continuous edge.
The team chose this shape specifically to represent Nashville. One face carries a laptop with firearms displayed on the screen, reflecting the team’s work.
The other carries a guitar paired with a whiskey barrel behind it, for the city’s music and whiskey heritage, framed by the words “ATF IRSBT Second to None” and “Nashville, TN,” with a class or unit number, “22-02,” lettered at the base.
Small details, like the guitar’s individual strings and the barrel’s wood grain, were machined precisely onto a surface with far less room to work than a standard round coin allows. We welcome that kind of challenge on every custom shape we build.
About the ATF Nashville Field Division
The ATF’s Nashville Field Division covers Tennessee and Alabama, from Music City to the Gulf Coast. The division enforces federal laws related to gun crime, arson, explosives, and alcohol and tobacco diversion.
The division’s workforce includes special agents, industry operations investigators, forensic auditors, certified fire investigators, and certified explosive specialists, alongside administrative and support staff.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives itself is the federal agency responsible for enforcing laws related to destructive devices, explosives, and arson, and for regulating the interstate sale, possession, and transport of firearms, ammunition, and explosives.
Custom Shapes That Represent a City
Every federal field office sits in a different city, and a coin can carry that local identity the same way this one does for Nashville. A guitar pick works for Music City. Other cities and regions call for different shapes, such as:
- A landmark silhouette, like an arch, a bridge, or a skyline
- A state or territory outline
- A symbol tied to local industry, like an oil derrick or a shipping container
- A regional animal or crop tied to the area’s identity
Each shape brings its own layout problem. A guitar pick has three corners and almost no flat middle to build around. A state outline might carry a coastline with dozens of small curves. None of these can borrow the layout rules that apply to a round coin, so every shape gets planned on its own terms.
We’ve applied this same approach elsewhere. Another place-based custom shape we worked on, the CENTCOM Resident Agency camel coin, is built around a specific location’s identity rather than a generic round design. The camel does for that team’s region what the guitar pick does for Nashville.
Every federal agency has offices spread across the country, and each one has its own city, its own local identity, and its own reason to want something that looks like nobody else’s coin.
Coins for Federal Field Offices and Teams
A coin built around one office’s identity is rarely a one-off. Field divisions and field offices across federal law enforcement commission coins the same way, often centered on a specific team, task force, or occasion instead of the agency as a whole.
Academy classes and retirements are common occasions too, marking a specific group or a specific career.
Federal law enforcement is a connected community, and a coin from one office often ends up in the hands of someone at another.
We design coins across this whole space, including our ATF challenge coins work for other ATF teams, HSI field office coins, and federal agency challenge coins generally.
Can You Put a Federal Agency Seal or Badge on a Coin?
Federal seals and badges carry usage restrictions under federal law. Reproducing an official badge or insignia without authorization is a federal offense and that restriction applies regardless of intent, which makes it generally more tightly controlled than seal reproduction.
Putting an official agency mark on a coin typically requires authorization from that agency first. If you’re ordering on behalf of a field office or team, confirming with your own chain of command before finalizing a design is worth doing early.
We work from artwork the customer is authorized to supply, and we can help build a design around your team’s identity even without an official seal or badge involved.
Design a Coin for Your Team
We build custom shaped challenge coins for federal teams and field offices, whether that means a standard round design or something shaped around your own identity.
- Free professional artwork
- Unlimited design revisions
- Free shipping within the continental U.S.
- 50-coin minimum
- Custom shapes cost no extra for the artwork itself
Tell us about your team or field office, and request free coin artwork to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a challenge coin be made in a custom shape?
Yes. We regularly build coins in shapes beyond a standard circle, tied to a team’s identity, mission, or location.
What shapes are possible besides round?
Nearly any shape that fits a coin’s scale works, from a guitar pick to an animal silhouette, a state outline, or a piece of equipment.
Does a custom shape cost more?
Not necessarily. What changes the price is the design’s complexity and finish, not the shape itself alone. The artwork for a custom outline doesn’t add extra cost, though a highly detailed design can affect the overall price the same way it would on a round coin.
What is the ATF Nashville Field Division?
It’s the ATF office responsible for Tennessee and Alabama, handling federal cases tied to gun crime, arson, explosives, and illegal alcohol and tobacco activity.
What does ATF stand for?
ATF stands for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Do federal field offices order their own challenge coins?
Yes. It’s common for a specific unit or task force to order its own coin rather than using one made for the entire agency.
Can a coin represent our city or region?
Yes. A coin’s shape, colors, and imagery can all be built around a specific city or region’s own identity.
Can I put a federal agency seal on a coin?
Only with your agency’s sign-off. Once you have artwork you’re cleared to use, we can build the design around it.
How small can the detail be on a custom-shaped coin?
Fine work like string lines or a wood-grain texture holds up well, even on a shape with less flat surface than a round coin.
What is the minimum order?
Our standard minimum order is 50 coins.
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