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The practice of a senior enlisted member presenting a coin or medallion to an individual actually goes back just about 100 years ago in the British Army. During the War of the Boars, the officers were the only ones authorized to receive medals. Whenever an enlisted person did a good job - typically the officer he was assigned to would receive the award. The Regimental SGM would sneak into the officer's tent; cut the medal from the ribbon. He would then call an all hands to formally "shake the hand" of the exceptional soldier, and would "palm the medal" in the soldier's hand without anyone knowing. The officers of course would sort of know what was going on, and typically condoned the action, as many often felt ill-at ease in accepting the medal in the first place - although there were a few exceptions. Whenever that would happen, other officers would cover for the enlisted men by blaming it on the nearby civilians who often stole goods from the army camps.
As time went on, the coin recognition was eventually extended to the American forces in WWI - by then of course the British Army began recognizing their own enlisted soldiers. The coin turned into a recognition piece, which was specially struck with the unit's crest on it. Senior NCOs presented them as their form of recognition, since they were not authorized to present any medals or awards. In Vietnam, the coin took a different twist of recognition -- it became known as the "challenge coin" in which those who had them, would slam them on the bar counter to challenge anyone in the bar if they had one - it was one of those Combat "machismo" thing. If a person didn't have a coin, they would have to buy the bar a round of drinks.
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Ruck and Soldier on
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