Challenge coins come in many shapes and sizes, with a bevy of unique details. Those details are what make challenge coins stand out. One of the most effective ways to customize any kind of challenge coin is with our selection of plating options.
High Polish, High Style
One of the most popular and eye-catching styles is our high polish plating. High polish challenge coins feature a brilliant mirror finish that provides a defining feature that will garner attention.
When you want a coin that has the style of an Olympic medal or that of a classic trophy, our high polish plating is the finish of choice.
A high polish finish is the best choice when you want a look that gleams. This plating option can be a bit of a challenge to work with, however. To help you create exactly the coin design you want, let’s look into the best practices for designing a high polish challenge coin.
Why Choose a High Polish Finish?
The most common reason for selecting a high polish finish is to get a design with a shimmering metallic look that is quite striking. However, that isn't the only reason. High polish coins also are cheaper and faster to produce than popular antique finishes.
Differences From Antique Finishes
Unlike antique finishes, high polish plating options have no natural shading for the recessed areas of your design. With a high polish finish, some of the detail and texture can get obscured by the shine of the coin itself.
One of the best ways to pull out those details is to shade in the recesses directly with an enamel color fill. The result is a bold contrast that works well together, offering a dramatic look with the polished finish and darker color tones. This combination creates a unique visual definition that is difficult to replicate any other way.
Raised or Recessed?
When designing a challenge coin, it's important to know that the text can be raised or recessed on the coin's surface. A highly polished finish can make it tricky to read any text without adding some shading to the design. On challenge coins with color, raising the text over the color background will create a naturally polished and clean look for your text. The reverse is also true if you opt to use just a few colors with recessed text. By adding color to the recessed text, you create a visual contrast that makes the details of your design much more legible. Alternatively if you don’t want to use color at all, your best option is to increase the font size of the text on your coin.
Dual Plating: Another Option
Dual-plating a challenge coin is another way to create a unique look for any coin. And one of the best choices for a dual-plated coin is to make sure one of the options is in high polish. You can mix this style in equal measure with another plating option to highlight the unique details of your coin.
The shine of high polish adds a new level of visual appeal that is sure to stand out. Even if you choose to only use high polish plating on a small detail of your coin, those areas will always stand out and shine brighter than the rest of your coin.
3D Design and High Polish: A Perfect Match
Another great way to get the most out of high polish plating is to use a 3D mold. This is one of our most popular options, adding depth and added visual detail to your design.
If you mix 3D details and high polish plating, it's best to keep the sculpted details simple. It's hard to gauge how much detail is too much, but sculpted detail needs some shading to keep things properly visible.
That shouldn't deter you from working with 3D designs and high polish plating options. Just make sure you keep the 3D elements of your coin simple or use a dark-colored backdrop for a unique visual presentation. Simple shapes and rounded designs work best, showing off the shining surface of your challenge coins bold and unique. Remember, you’re not limited to standard designs when ordering custom challenge coins.
The Right Supplier Makes a Difference
At ChallengeCoins4Less.com, we offer multiple attractive options that are sure to enhance the appearance of your coins, including a suite of plating options. We also feature a range of metal styles, edge cuts, 3D designs, cutouts, custom shapes, and other ways to make your coin designs truly your own.
Our range of metal finishes or plating options includes free options such as polished gold metal, polished silver, black nickel, polished brass, or polished copper. We also offer additional finish and plating options such as antique gold, antique brass, antique silver or antique copper, or a duo-tone effect.
We have produced top-quality custom challenge coins for 20 years. We have had the privilege of providing custom coins for every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. We also regularly provide challenge coins to local, state and federal government agencies, law enforcement and fire departments, schools, colleges, nonprofits and many others.
We understand how much challenge coins mean to recipients, and we are dedicated to offering the best products on the market. We are committed to unbeatable pricing and unrivaled customer service.
We will work with you every step of the way to perfect your design and create exactly the custom challenge coins you want. We hand-inspect every coin before your order is shipped, and we stand behind the quality of our coins with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
If you’d like to find out more, we’re happy to answer any questions you might have about high polish finishes or any other aspect of custom challenge coins. Call us toll free at (855) 272-8451, or email us. Already have a coin design in mind? Great! Fill out our free quote form and we’ll send you a free digital proof of your design. Let us show you how we make ordering great-looking custom challenge coins fast, easy and fun!
