Coin Designer — Custom Coins & Medallions

Design laser-engraved coins, challenge coins, and medallions with AI. Get 3D previews and engraving-ready files for CO2, fiber, and rotary laser systems.

Capabilities & Feature Set

Generates challenge-coin templates, borders, and relief designs with AI assistance.
Builds layered 3D depth map layouts with front and back face matching.
Outputs vector silhouettes and high-contrast displacement maps.
Directly compatible with fiber laser marking machines and CNC engraving mills.

What Operators Say

“I love this software!”

Patrick Hussey — Laser engraver · went from never touching the software to firing real burns in his first week

“This is the easiest I have seen.”

Chris Clark — Laser engraver · Vanguard pack customer · builds custom 1911 grips

“Reticle Red is becoming one of my favorite software to use. It has a lot of tools that many others do not, and approaches things differently to create more consistent results. A++”

Daniel Webster — Laser engraver · long-time power user

“Reticle Red definitely takes the guess work out of your design work with tutorials to walk through the process. I highly recommend it.”

Justin Brown — Laser engraver

Open Coin Designer — Free to Start See Real Results →

Related Tools & Guides

Coin Designer: 2D & 3D Minting Tutorial →Designing Challenge Coins →MOPA Color Settings →Field Manual: Coin Designer →Design Custom Challenge Coins →Free V-Carve Text Depth Maps →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the standard size for a challenge coin?

The traditional military specification is 38mm (1.5 inches) in diameter. Coin Designer defaults to 38mm and lets you adjust size before exporting an SVG/DXF template or a 3D-printable STL file.

2D or 3D — which coin mode should I use?

Flat 2D vector minting is faster and works on any laser that cuts or engraves vector paths. 3D bas-relief mode generates a true depth-map height field for dimensional relief engraving — best on fiber and MOPA systems.

What laser settings work for engraving a coin?

Baseline fiber laser settings for stainless coin blanks: 500–800 mm/s speed, 60–80% power, 20–30 kHz frequency. Always run a test on scrap material first — see the Laser Lab calculators for machine-specific tuning.

Can I make challenge coins without a fiber laser?

Yes — export the 3D design as an STL and resin-print it, then finish with metallic paint. Diode lasers can also engrave anodized aluminum blanks by ablating the anodized layer.