page_title: Sobriety coin
section_title: Coin design
hierarchical_section_title: Sobriety coin / Coin design
caption_attribution_description: English: A 36-year sobriety coin given to a 59-year-old member at a meeting in Methuen, Massachusetts.
context_page_description: A sobriety coin is a token given to Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12 step group members representing the amount of time the member has remained sober. It is traditionally a medallion the size of a poker chip 33 mm or 34 mm in diameter marking the sobriety time achieved, awarded for abstaining from alcohol while with the program. In other 12 step programs it is to mark time abstaining from whatever the recipient is staying away from. There is no official AA medallion or chip; they are used in AA culture but not officially Conference Approved, and the AA logo has not been granted for use on medallions.
context_section_description: “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of both men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism”. To show how far along each person is in their sobriety most A.A. groups use a chip of a particular color or alloy that constitutes a range of time that person has been sober. These different colored chips and values are meant to be tokens of inspiration and a reminder of just how long the member has been sober and how far that member has come. It is evident that “early on, many people in A.A. carried personal mementos to remind themselves of the importance of their sobriety”
  . From personal mementos to coins, the practice of giving out something such as a sobriety chip represents the will and desire that a person has to quit drinking. “The practice of giving sobriety chips in A.A. is attributed to a group in Elmira, N.Y. in 1947. The celebration of birthdays came from the Oxford group where they celebrated the anniversary of their spiritual rebirth, in Alcoholics Anonymous people choose the anniversary of the date of their first full day without a drink. There are fourteen basic coins that are given to members within their first year of sobriety.  Generally coins are given at one month, three months, six months, nine months of sobriety the first year.  After this coins are given after each yearly milestone.
  Typical coin milestone colors
  Silver Chip – 24 hours of sobriety
  Red Chip – 30 days/1 month of sobriety
  Gold Chip – 60 days/2 months of sobriety
  Green Chip – 90 days/3 months of sobriety
  Purple Chip – 4 months of sobriety
  Pink Chip – 5 months of sobriety
  Dark Blue Chip – 6 months of sobriety
  Copper Chip – 7 months of sobriety
  Red Chip – 8 months of sobriety
  Purple Chip – 9 months of sobriety
  Gold Chip – 10 months of sobriety
  Green Chip – 11 months of sobriety
  Bronze Chip – 1 year of sobriety.
  “The chip system is optional and not a part of all A.A. groups nationally or worldwide”. In 2011, the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous estimated that there were about 58,000 Alcoholic Anonymous groups throughout the United States. All the chips after the One Year-chip are traditionally also bronze. There are special novelty chips that come in other metals, colors, types and designs. Common premium sobriety chips are gold- and silver-plated, colored and sometimes coated in a clear epoxy dome.
caption: A 36-year sobriety coin given to a 59-year-old member at a meeting in Methuen, Massachusetts.
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