Hello everybody, I found this United States Army Service War With Germany challenge coin for 5 bucks at my local coin shop (the one with fair prices). I did a quick search and only found an NGC forum post of someone asking what it was, and no one had an answer. I'll link the forum post here: https://boards.ngccoin.com/topic/210685-war-with-germany-us-army-service-token-any-info/ That's all I could find. The (what I assume to be) reverse of mine looks different from these pictures. What I draw from this is that they were customized based on the soldier they were given to. You'll be able to see that in the linked photos here and how they differ from the ones on the NGC website. Intriguing indeed. I was wondering if any one of you knew what this was or how it was obtained by an individual. I doubt anyone on here ever received one because the last war we had with Germany was more than 75 years ago, but maybe one of you got one from a parent or grandparent. That's about all I have to say about that; for five dollars I'm pretty happy, even if it is holed.
I don't think the hole is plugged, but otherwise agree. It was made for someone to engrave their unit and other information on the reverse, but that never got done. The style certainly looks consistent with the WW2 era. Neat piece.
I located a similar, unholed version for sale on ebay, but the seller had no idea about it either. Seller is in Washington state. It seems possible to be that these were used as tokens of recognition as they can be engraved with different individuals information. I've seen medals that are like that. Maybe this was something a VFW or American legion produced too honor soldiers? I'm just guessing here. But seeing that token for sale from Washington reminded me of a lady I used to care for at the nursing home I work at. During WWII, she went to Washington to help build battleships and such! A real life Rosie the Riveter.
Yeah it seems to have been engraved for a specific soldier who earned it. They must have been given out by a VFW or American Legion. The pictures I've seen, the variable engravings are in the same place on the coin throughout the different examples. It is true that the hole is not plugged, I still think it's cool and it's different from the other examples. More photos of this coin are coming once I get home, but probably posted tomorrow because I'm working all night.
This type of token was generally given to any U.S. soldier that served in Germany, even after the war ended, but Numista seems to the down at this time so I couldn't check it. Try this site and see what comes up.
Interesting, the first one on that site had been engraved probably by the soldier who owned it with his name. Very cool, thanks for your help!
