When L.Tammy Duckworth's helicopter; the black Hawk was shot down in Iraq, her fellow fighters sent back four of her personal things with her coffin. These things were her wedding ring, her dog tags, her unit patch and her challenge coin which kept safely in the breast pocket of her flying suit.

All those people who do not have a military background do not actually get to know that the Military Challenge Coins are something more than a trinket not much bigger than a poker chip that has the logo of the Illinois National Guard Unit. Duckworth who was the assistant secretary of veteran affairs at the time of death, the coin was something sacred; "That's my identity."

These kinds of coins are known as the ‘Challenge coins,' and are a very important part of the military forces because all these things are adorned on the uniform at which one glance shows the rank, etc of the officer. Duckworth got her coin for an exemplary service which is why it was very important for her because other officers even get it for raising their morale.

In the past years the idea of the Military Challenge Coins have become a civilian trend too which may be also known as a holy tradition and a military style up to Washington as Power Games. The federal government has used coins in every part of their system. every kind of secretaries have their own coins and almost all administrators follow the same thing too.

The tradition of coins has become very common because the ambassador to Australia, corporate of Boeing and even Starbucks all have their own coins.

This tradition of copying of the Military Challenge Coins seems like a repulsive dishonor to the tradition of the coins. Others feel that it is a pleasing report of honor.

Don't see it as an offense," said Navy Capt. John Kirby, spokesman for Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. "I look at it as them wanting to associate with the sacrifice that the military is making."

Some feel that the coins have lost their integrity and have become more of a symbol of arrogance rather than of service and sacrifice.

Todd Bowers who went for war in Iraq and Afghanistan both with the Marine corps and is an officer at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (yes, the nonprofit group has a coin) says, "They've become like an autograph and now they are business cards."

There are places where people were actually noticed because of the posters and other such things on walls, etc have another thing to manage now, which includes the coins to make them feel proud of every thing.

It has been seen that most soldiers have felt very low in spirits after they got coins from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs the reason being that they get their coins from the president who has placed his coin at the commander in chief coin at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Moving further ahead the Pentagon has also become a part of the coin system now. The air force people have a coin that says ‘Financing the Fight' and on the other hand the army system supports them with the coin that says, ‘Documenting the Force.'

Most officers keep their coin collection in their office on display for people to see among who Clayton Hinchman, a retired Army captains who works at the Military Officers Association of America in Alexandria. He got several coins from different people among which the coins from President George W Bush and Vice president Dick Cheney; two are his most favorite; One for graduating first in his Ranger school class, and one from a Navy explosive ordinance disposal unit he served with in Iraq. "I ate actual dirt with those people," he said.

As for those from more obscure bureaucrats, well . . . "I don't know if it's people wanting to feel good about themselves," he said. "I think it goes overboard when people view them as a collector's item. It's not. You're supposed to get them for sacrifice or meritorious service."

The history of the coin tradition is not very clear how ever the founder of the Challenge coin Association; Jesse Medford saw the most ancient coin which dates back to the 17th Infantry Regiment in the early 1950s. the coins was reused in the early 80s and gradually the tradition took a new turn of being a permanent part of the armed forces.

"It's been the last 10 years where it's spread like wildfire, definitely since the wars have been going on," he said.

In the past couple of years, the popularity of the coins has become "so vast that it's almost better to say who doesn't have a coin," said Adam Mulholland, owner of U.S. Challenge Coins, a Georgia manufacturer.

There is a specific reason why these Special Forces coins are known as Military Challenge Coins. All those people who are a part of the military should carry their challenge coins at all times as they can be challenged at any time and they have to produce their coin the same instant. In case you are not able to produce a coin then you have to buy beer to the challenger and in case you fulfill the challenge and produce a coin then the challenger has to buy beer for you.

Duckworth said that she could never forget a commander who never lost a challenge as he always carried one. She said, "He even had a coin attached to his soap box because his guys would challenge him in the shower."

There is another style of playing the coin challenge game and it includes the challenging of a complete group of officers to produce their challenge coins. When such a challenge is done the officer who has the highest ranking coin gets a free beer. Recently the game has become complicated as there are several kinds of coins out now and the game gets quite perplexing as you cannot actually decide if the secretary of commerce is actually ranked higher than the secretary of agriculture and similarly if the civilian aide is better than the secretary of the army.

When he was covering the Pentagon for CNN, Jamie McIntyre kept getting "coined" by top officials after interviews, which made him slightly uncomfortable. "I always felt like as a news reporter, you don't want to be in anybody's debt," he said.

So he bought a batch of coins for $4 a pop with his own money because the network refused his expense account. "CNN Covering the World since 1980," they read on one side. On the other: "Jamie McIntyre Covering the Pentagon since 1992."

Coins have become very common and very expensive as the tradition has taken a step ahead and everyone wants their coin to be extra unique. McIntyre spent almost $6 for every coin for his first batch and then he got a whole batch of coins made in $7.5 each. The final lot was the most expensive with $10 per coin and he had to think a lot to see who actually deserved a coin how ever here he found out that coins had become just too common. "We're one step away from your neighbor giving you a coin for mowing the lawn," he joked

The cost price of the coins keeps getting higher. The Joint Chiefs of Staff spent $187,500 on 37,500 coins during the previous year according to a presenter of his office.

There is no specific quota for the minting of the coins in the Army as it is hard to calculate the exact cost of the coins how ever the head quarters of the Training and Doctrine Command calculated a cost of $27,000 on the coins during the previous year and it had coins minted for almost 44,000 soldiers and civilians.

The department of the Transportation calculated a $ 3,320 on coins and $1, 385 was spent by the Education Department during the previous year. According to the agriculture department the coins total cost could not be calculated by them but they said that they  usually give out the coins to military and law related people only as a token of thanks.

Gen.David H. Petraeus the U.S commander in Iraq cined Sen. John Barrasso and that is when he got to know about coins and now he uses coins and campaigns a fund to pay for their expenses.

Barraso got to know that several senators take the official senate coins with them to overseas trips and so he got one made for himself. "More and more are doing this," he said. According to Stuffy the Official senate coin which has the image of a man riding a wild horse seems lesser wild than Barrasso which is wilder. He gives out these coins to several service men. He goes home on weekends and makes sure that he carries a few in case he needs to give them out during the flight or at the airport if he meets any military officers. He also carries the coins on abroad tours.

"They look at this, and it reminds them of home," he said. "And when you're halfway around the world, anything that reminds you of home is usually pretty welcome"