Coins for Anything Applies to Guinness World Records

Jeff Morin was still an active duty Marine when he began customizing challenge coins. With $500 borrowed from his mother, he started Coins for Anything.

The Fredericksburg company now boasts four Inc. 5000 awards and what may be the largest private collection of challenge coins in the world.

Morin and his business partner, Chris Frederick, another retired Marine, have begun the application process for official verification from Guinness World Records.

Challenge coins are small medallions given and received for participation in groups or events, or to recognize achievements. They were primarily military related but now are minted for any organization or event.

"Challenge coins are important and significant to military people," said Morin, CEO of the company.  "A service member can tell you the story of their career based on the coins they've received," he said.

To date, Morin and Frederick have designed 38,000 challenge coins.  They keep one of each for the private collection.

One of their most popular coins is the Navy corpsman coin. "We designed it seven years ago, and it's still one of the top five sellers we have in stock," Frederick said.  Another favorite is the Navy veteran coin. 

Coins for Anything is now one of seven businesses under the "for Anything" umbrella.  It was first and is the largest brand of the seven. The other businesses are:

• Awards for Anything
• Lanyards for Anything
• Pins for Anything
• Shirts for Anything
• Signs for Anything
• Websites for Anything

According to the 2012 company profile in Inc, Coins for Anything saw 12 percent growth in the last three years. The company's revenue in 2011 was $3.1 million.

Keep in touch with local news and information. Subscribe to the free Fredericksburg Patch e-newsletter.