Manufacturing

Custom Medal Spec Sheet: Line-by-Line Buyer Guide

Start With the Medal’s Job, Not the Artwork

Most medal problems start before the artwork is approved. A 5K finisher medal, school award, corporate recognition piece, and challenge coin-style medal may look similar in a mockup, but they are built to different targets for weight, durability, and presentation. If the use case is vague, the quote may look fine while the physical part fails in hand: too light for a premium award, too thick for a ribbon loop, or too detailed to reproduce cleanly at the chosen size.

Write the spec around use, not aesthetics. State whether the medal is for indoor or outdoor use, whether it will be worn for hours or displayed, whether it needs a ribbon, neck cord, pin-back, or presentation box, and whether the finish must survive frequent handling. For one-off events, you can accept slightly more visual complexity; for repeat programs and retail resale, tighten the finish, tolerances, and QC language from day one.

• Event finisher medals: prioritize readable relief, durable plating, and a loop that handles daily wear.
• Corporate awards: prioritize polished faces, crisp edges, and presentation packaging.
• Commemorative medals: prioritize weight feel, clean typography, and controlled antique or enamel contrast.

Size, Thickness, and Weight: The Three Numbers That Change Everything

Diameter controls both visual presence and tooling complexity. Common production sizes are 50 mm, 60 mm, 65 mm, 70 mm, and 80 mm; 65 mm is a strong middle ground for general awards. Pieces under 45 mm usually feel modest unless the design is bold, while medals above 90 mm increase mold cost, plating risk, and shipping weight quickly. If the medal must sit flat on a chest or in a display tray, ask for a diameter tolerance and a maximum overall profile in the quote.

Thickness should be tied to the manufacturing method and the feel you want in hand. Zinc alloy medals commonly run 2.5 to 4.0 mm for standard orders, 4.5 to 6.0 mm for premium pieces, and 1.8 to 2.2 mm only for simple low-cost designs. Brass can hold sharper edges and a denser feel, but it usually pushes cost up and may need longer finishing time. If the buyer cares about perceived value, specify target weight in grams as well, because two medals with the same diameter can feel very different depending on relief depth, cutouts, and edge treatment.

Spec line	Typical range	Buyer impact
Diameter	50-80 mm	Affects readability, ribbon balance, and perceived value
Thickness	2.5-6.0 mm	Affects rigidity, weight, and tooling cost
Target weight	35-120 g	Affects hand feel and shipping cost
Relief depth	0.3-1.8 mm	Affects artwork clarity and mold feasibility
Diameter tolerance	±0.2 to ±0.3 mm	Affects fit, symmetry, and repeatability

As a rule of thumb, a 60-70 mm zinc medal at 3.0-4.0 mm thickness is a safe middle for most event programs. Larger medals can still work well, but the loop, ribbon, and packaging must scale with them. If you want a premium feel without moving to a much larger diameter, add edge bevels, a heavier center mass, a sandblast background, or a two-tone finish instead of simply increasing size.

Metal Body, Plating, and Finish Codes

For most custom medals, zinc alloy is the practical default because it supports high detail, lower tooling cost, and flexible shapes. Brass is better when you need a tighter, denser feel and crisper edge definition, but it is usually more expensive in both material and finishing. Iron can be economical for flat, simple medals, but it is less forgiving on deep relief and needs reliable corrosion protection if the finish is not tightly controlled.

Plating should be specified as a finish code or clear visual standard, not a loose description like gold color or silver look. Common finishes include shiny gold, shiny nickel, antique gold, antique silver, black nickel, and matte brass. If the medal will be handled often, shiny nickel or black nickel tends to hide minor scuffs better than soft decorative gold tones. If you want recesses to read clearly, antique plating is usually more forgiving than mirror polish because the darker valleys increase contrast.

For planning, most decorative medals use very thin visual plating layers, but appearance depends as much on polishing quality and edge coverage as on nominal thickness. A practical plating note should ask the supplier how they control edge burn, dull patches, and tone drift. For repeat programs, approve the finish against a physical sample under daylight and warm indoor light, because gold, nickel, and antique tones can look similar in photos but diverge in person across different plating lines.

If you need consistency across yearly reorders, lock the finish to a retained master sample and specify whether minor tone shift is acceptable. For corporate programs and retail runs, that language matters more than saying “gold tone” or “silver tone,” which is too vague for production control.

Artwork Breakdown: Relief, Lines, and Lettering Limits

Medal artwork should be reviewed as a build spec, not just a visual proof. Raised areas, recessed channels, and text all have minimum practical limits. As a working rule, linework below 0.25 mm can disappear after polishing or plating, and text below about 4 pt equivalent becomes risky on small-diameter medals unless the font is bold and the relief is deep enough. Thin internal counters and tight corners are the first places where detail is lost.

If the design has multiple levels, ask the factory to define the relief hierarchy clearly: background field, primary logo, secondary icon, and text. That hierarchy matters because too many level changes can flatten the design at small scale or create sharp transitions that trap residue during polishing and plating. A clean medal usually has one dominant visual element, one supporting layer, and only essential secondary text. For reverse sides, a simple stamped message or serial number often works better than trying to mirror the front’s complexity.

Concrete example: a 65 mm race medal with a raised runner silhouette, recessed skyline, and event name can work well if the skyline lines stay above 0.3 mm and the event name is kept to bold sans serif text at 4.5-5 pt equivalent. The same design at 45 mm would likely need the skyline simplified, the text enlarged, and the background texture reduced. Design changes should follow size, not the other way around.

• Use bold sans serif text for the smallest lines.
• Avoid hairline borders under 0.3 mm.
• Keep recessed channels wide enough for polish access.
• Limit deep internal cutouts unless the medal is large enough to support them.
• Reduce tiny copy before reducing the overall medal size.

Ribbon, Loop, and Attachment Spec: Where Failures Start

The attachment point carries the medal’s working load, so it deserves its own line in the spec sheet. Most medals use a top loop or a top cutout with a separate split ring, but the loop geometry must match the medal weight and ribbon width. A thin loop on a heavy medal is a common failure point, especially for sports events where the medal is swung, stacked in cartons, or worn all day.

For standard event use, 20-25 mm ribbons are common; premium presentation medals often use 30-40 mm woven or printed ribbons. If the medal is wide or heavy, increase loop size and check that the ribbon fold does not cover key face details. As a practical check, a 70-80 mm medal usually needs a stronger loop shoulder than a 50-60 mm piece, especially if the finished weight is above about 70 g. If the ribbon is printed, specify print method, dye-sublimation or woven jacquard, plus color match tolerance before production starts.

A useful attachment spec includes loop diameter, metal wall thickness around the loop, ribbon width, and finished weight in one line. Those four numbers determine whether the medal hangs straight or tilts awkwardly on the chest. If the medal will be worn for a full event day, a softer ribbon, a wider loop, and rounded loop corners reduce pull stress and fabric distortion.

Concrete example: a 75 mm, 95 g medal with a 25 mm ribbon should not use the same loop geometry as a 55 mm, 45 g school award. The heavier piece usually needs a larger loop opening and a thicker top wall so the loop does not distort during polishing or plating. If the supplier cannot state the minimum metal around the hole, ask for a revised drawing before sample approval.

Color Fill, Enamel, and Surface Contrast

Not every medal should be enamel-filled, but when color is used, it must be specified carefully. Soft enamel gives a textured surface with recessed color and stronger metal visibility, while hard enamel creates a flatter, more polished face. For medals, soft enamel is usually the better choice when you want lower cost and clear relief; hard enamel is better when the piece must feel more premium and will be handled frequently.

The spec should define which areas get color, which stay metal, and whether the color sits below the metal lines or flush with them. If the design includes tiny text, consider leaving the text in bare metal rather than filling it, because small cavities can bleed, overfill, or lose edge clarity. Many buyers use a mostly metal finish with one or two accent colors to keep the piece elegant and easier to control in production.

Enamel also changes the way the medal reads in low light. A black nickel base with a single red accent can look sharper and more premium than a bright gold body with several weak colors. If the goal is a strong retail look, cap the color count at three or four; if the goal is fast event production, one- or two-color soft enamel is usually the most reliable path.

Option	Best for	Trade-off
No color fill	Awards, military-style pieces, premium looks	Less visual contrast at small sizes
Soft enamel	Events, promos, cost control	Textured surface, less refined feel
Hard enamel	Presentation pieces, repeated handling	Higher cost and more polishing work
Mixed metal plus enamel	Retail and sponsor-heavy designs	Needs tighter artwork control

QC Limits: Tolerances, Plating Checks, and Sample Approval

A good medal spec sheet includes tolerance values so the factory is not guessing. Typical dimensional tolerance on outer diameter is about ±0.2 to ±0.3 mm for standard zinc alloy medals, while thickness can vary more if the design has deep relief. For critical fit features such as a presentation box insert or display tray, add the packaging tolerance too, because a perfect medal can still rattle or fail to seat correctly in the final set.

Inspection should name the exact checkpoints: outer dimension, thickness, loop straightness, plating coverage on edges, scratch level, color fill height, and the transition between raised and recessed areas. A useful acceptance standard for decorative metal goods is often AQL 2.5 for major defects and AQL 4.0 for minor defects, but the real value is in defining what counts as a major defect. A plated medal with a visible scratch on the front face, missing enamel, warped loop, or off-center artwork should be treated differently from a faint mark on the reverse.

For repeat orders, keep the approved sample as the master reference and state that mass production must match it for finish tone, texture, attachment geometry, and general color balance. If the order is important enough to re-run every year, lock the sample photo and the physical golden sample together, because photos alone do not capture plating shift or surface gloss.

A simple pre-shipment check can catch most avoidable defects. Inspect 100% for obvious issues such as bent loops, plating voids, broken ribbons, and unreadable text, then sample carton-level counts for weight, finish consistency, and packing damage. If the order is for a sponsored race or televised event, ask for a pre-production sample before mass run and a final-article photo set before packing.

MOQ, Lead Time, and FOB Price: What to Expect

Medal economics are driven more by tooling, finish complexity, and packaging than by the base metal alone. For simple zinc alloy medals, MOQ often starts around 100 to 300 pieces per design, with better unit pricing at 500 to 1,000 pieces. If your order uses multiple colors, special plating, or custom ribbons, the minimum order may move upward because setup time and line changeover cost increase. For highly customized shapes or multi-part assemblies, some factories prefer 300 to 500 pieces as a practical floor.

Lead time usually falls into three bands. Sample production is commonly 5 to 7 days, standard mass production about 12 to 18 days after sample approval, and complex finishes or peak-season orders 20 to 30 days. If the event date is fixed, work backward from the shipping date, not the event date, because freight, customs, and local delivery can add several days. For rush orders, ask early whether the factory can compress plating or packaging without reducing quality control.

FOB pricing varies with size and finish, but a realistic planning range is useful. Simple small medals may land around USD 0.80 to 1.50 each, medium medals with ribbon around USD 1.20 to 2.50, and premium heavy medals with special plating or presentation packaging around USD 2.80 to 5.00 or more. These ranges move with metal prices, artwork complexity, ribbon type, and packing method. Always compare quotes using the same diameter, thickness, finish, ribbon width, and carton quantity, or the price gap will be misleading.

A concrete cost example helps: a 65 mm zinc alloy medal, 3.5 mm thick, with soft enamel, one printed ribbon, and standard polybag packing may quote near the middle of the range at 500 pieces. Change that same order to black nickel, hard enamel, and a gift box, and the unit price can jump materially even if the front design barely changes. The more the order relies on finishing labor, the more the final FOB moves away from the base-metal cost.

• Use one MOQ number for the quoted design, not a generic factory minimum.
• Confirm sample lead time separately from mass-production lead time.
• Ask whether FOB includes ribbon assembly, polybagging, and carton labels.
• Compare quotes only after locking size, thickness, finish, and packaging.
• Budget extra time for peak months, especially before major race seasons.

What to Do Next

Before sending an RFQ, convert the idea into a one-page spec sheet with locked fields: diameter, thickness, target weight, metal body, plating finish, enamel type, attachment style, ribbon width, tolerance, packaging, quantity, and delivery date. That one page removes most of the back-and-forth that causes delay and rework. If you already have artwork, ask the factory to mark up the file with manufacturing notes rather than only approving the visual appearance.

If you want the order to move cleanly, request one pre-production sample, one approved reference sample, and a written note on any acceptable variation in plating tone, weight, or ribbon color. For buyers managing event deadlines, that is usually the fastest way to avoid surprises. ZheCraft can also quote medals alongside matching pins, keychains, patches, or lanyards when you need a coordinated promo set with shared branding and one production timeline.

Have a project? Send your artwork and target quantity and we’ll reply with a detailed quotation within 12 working hours.