This custom HSI challenge coin was created for Homeland Security Investigations personnel connected to Cocoa Beach and Orlando, Florida. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is the principal investigative component of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the Department of Homeland Security.
The customer wanted a design that was bold, distinctive, and closely connected to both the HSI mission and Florida. Rather than creating a traditional agency-style coin, the artwork combines recognizable regional imagery with detailed dimensional metalwork.
We’re veteran-owned, and every HSI coin we build starts with your office or team’s own story.
A Custom Design Built Around Florida and HSI
One side features a skull incorporating an American flag motif, surrounded by the words Homeland Security Investigations and Cocoa Beach – Orlando. The antique-gold-style metal finish gives the design a substantial, traditional look while letting the darker recessed areas and colored details stand out.
The reverse takes the customization even further. The design incorporates the shape of Florida along with an alligator, palm trees, a space shuttle, and additional HSI-related imagery. These elements connect the coin directly to the people and locations it was created to represent.
The combination of raised and recessed metal, dimensional artwork, detailed textures, and selective color shows how several ideas can fit into a single custom challenge coin without losing the overall design.
Custom Homeland Security Challenge Coins
Projects like this are one example of the custom coins Embleholics has produced for customers connected to federal law enforcement and government organizations. Designs can incorporate agency or organizational imagery, office locations, regional symbols, mottos, custom shapes, dimensional artwork, and other details important to coin recipients.
If you’re developing a coin for a DHS organization, office, team, training program, or special event, explore our custom Homeland Security challenge coins to learn about design options, examples, and the ordering process.
Coins for HSI SAC Offices and Task Forces
HSI operates through Special Agent in Charge (SAC) offices nationwide, each responsible for investigative and enforcement activity within its own geographic area. SAC offices exist in major cities across the country, including Miami and Tampa here in Florida, along with cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, and dozens of others. Each SAC office oversees a number of smaller field offices and sub-offices within its territory.
Just like this coin was built around Cocoa Beach and Orlando specifically, individual SAC offices, task forces, and specialized units within HSI commonly commission their own coins. An office coin gives a specific team something that reflects their location, their caseload, or their particular corner of HSI’s mission, rather than a generic agency design.
Task forces made up of HSI personnel working alongside other federal, state, or local partners are another common occasion for a coin, since a joint task force often wants a design that represents every agency involved rather than HSI alone.
This is the same pattern behind our HSI CBP Southwest Customs Revenue & Port Investigations coin, a distinctly different coin built for a different HSI-connected team.
Whether you’re part of a SAC office, a field office, or a task force, we can build a coin around what makes your team’s work specific to where you are.
HSI Special Agent Training Class Coins
New HSI special agents complete their training at the HSI Academy, located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.
Training runs in two parts: the Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP), shared with other federal law enforcement trainees, followed by HSI Special Agent Training (HSISAT), which focuses specifically on HSI’s investigative mission.
Because agents train and graduate in numbered classes, a training-class coin is a natural way to mark that specific class’s time at the academy together. It’s a recurring, predictable occasion: every new class is a potential coin, commemorating the group that went through training side by side before scattering to field offices across the country.
If your class is approaching graduation, or if you’re organizing a coin for a class that’s already completed training, we can build a design around your specific class rather than a generic academy template, the same way we’ve built CBP challenge coins around a single agency’s own identity.
Finished Coin (Front)
Finished Coin (Back)
What Goes on an HSI Challenge Coin?
While all DHS component coins we build are customized to client ideas and requests, these challenge coins draw from a handful of common design elements, including:
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- Office and city identifiers, tying a coin to a specific SAC office or field office, similar to how this coin identifies Cocoa Beach and Orlando by name
- Task force names, on coins built for joint operations involving HSI alongside other agencies
- Regional motifs, like the Florida shape, alligator, palm trees, and space shuttle on this coin, connecting a design to where a team is actually based
- Unit mottos, operation names, and milestone or class dates
- Custom shapes and dimensional artwork, like the raised and recessed detailing used on this coin
- Agency badge and seal imagery, subject to the usage restrictions (see below)
Can You Put an HSI Badge or Seal on a Coin?
Federal seals and badges are subject to usage restrictions under federal law, and badge reproduction carries tighter restrictions than seal imagery generally.
Using an official HSI badge or seal on a custom coin typically requires authorization from the agency or office. If you’re not sure what your office allows, we’d recommend confirming through your chain of command before finalizing a design.
We work from artwork that the customer is authorized to supply, and we’re happy to help design around your office’s identity in ways that don’t rely on a restricted badge or seal. If you have a concept in mind, request free coin artwork and we’ll help you develop it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does HSI stand for?
HSI stands for Homeland Security Investigations, the principal investigative component of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
What does Homeland Security Investigations do?
HSI investigates transnational crime and threats, including criminal organizations that exploit trade, travel, and finance systems, working across a broad range of federal investigative authorities.
Is HSI part of ICE or DHS?
HSI is a directorate of ICE, which is itself a component of the Department of Homeland Security. HSI is described as the principal investigative arm of DHS.
What is an HSI SAC office?
An HSI SAC office is a Special Agent in Charge office, responsible for administering investigative and enforcement activity within a specific geographic area, overseeing smaller field offices within that territory.
Do HSI offices order their own challenge coins?
Yes. SAC offices, field offices, and task forces commonly commission their own coins, reflecting their specific location, team, or mission rather than a single agency-wide design.
What is the difference between an HSI coin and a DHS coin?
A DHS coin can represent the department broadly or any of its components, while an HSI coin specifically reflects Homeland Security Investigations, often tied to a particular office, class, or task force.
Can I put an HSI badge or seal on a custom coin?
Reproducing an official HSI badge or seal is restricted under federal law and typically requires authorization from your office. We can work from artwork your office has approved, or help design around your team’s identity without relying on a restricted badge.
Do you make coins for HSI training classes?
Yes. We design coins for HSI training classes at the academy, whether you’re commemorating an upcoming graduation or a class that’s already completed training.
What is the minimum order for HSI challenge coins?
Our standard minimum order is 50 coins.
Do you offer rush production for a retirement or graduation?
Yes. Rush production is available when you’re working against a specific event date, such as a retirement ceremony or a training class graduation.
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