9/1/2023 0 Comments Cia challenge coinIt was donated by “Maya,” the alias of the CIA ![]() One Maya coin is kept in the collection in New York City at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The one he’d really like? A coin nicknamed “Bush X” or “Maya.” But that coin is hard to find on the open market. “You also don’t want to sell it to a guy who’s going to start reproducing it and make 1,000 fakes off the one legit one,” the former In an interview, oneįormer CIA security protective officer said he only buys and sells online with a few trusted sources. Agency employees in officesĪcross the United States and world are free to design whatever coin they’d like, the spokesman said.īut eBay is also rife with fakes - coins that didn’t originate with agency people or that were copied by outsiders. In a statement to The Washington Post, the CIA didn’t express concern that its challenge coins are being traded in the public domain.Ī spokesman said the agency uses the coins as a “non-monetary award” to recognize exceptional employees. The going price can soar into the hundreds of dollars, sometimes exceeding $1,000. Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad. Tel Aviv station, another for the Pakistan operations group, and a third for a surveillance technology group that was staked out near ![]() Wallace says the spy currency comes directly from present or former employees or contractors. “Because of theīusiness I’m now in, I get to talk to people I’d never get to talk to. Wallace, Coin Squadron’s co-founder, whose shop has introduced him to current or retired members of the intelligence community. It was for some Special Operations group,” said Joe “I got that one from a guy thinning his herd. The coin’s back shows a smilingĬlown with an often-heard military slogan: “Be Polite, Be Professional, But Have a Plan to Kill Everyone You Meet.” This summer, Coin Squadron sold coins for the Iran operations division, the covert influence group within the agency’s SpecialĪctivities Division, and one that said, “Pipe Hitters Local 391” - 3 representing C 9 for I 1 for A. The cramped basement of a converted church in Washington Crossing, Pa., right by the banks of the Delaware River. Yet nearly 200 miles north of the CIA’s headquarters, a small business called Coin Squadron buys and sells pieces of Langley lore from ![]() In someĬases, employees can’t invite their own relatives to their own awards ceremonies. ![]() The agency, after all, doesn’t let ordinary people tour its museum or visit its Memorial Wall honoring slain officers. Some coins contain symbols whose meanings are known only to insiders.įor such coins to disseminate widely - via eBay, no less - appears to fly in the face of the CIA’s tight-lipped and proudly crypticĬulture. Stations abroad and operations divisions. The unclassified coins represent something rare in agency culture: tangible and often darkly humorous acknowledgments of specific CIA “challenge coins” most commonly associated with the military - doing up for sale on the Internet and by private dealers? So what are CIA-commissioned mementos - brass The coveted coins are cloaked in secrecy, just like the spy agency that produces them. The Washington Post published an article on the coins. In earlier E-Sylum issues we discussed the medals and challenge coins issued by the U.S.
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