AA Chips or sobriety tokens are handed out at AA meetings to commemorate monthly and yearly sobriety milestones.
The Beginning of the Sober Journey – The First 30 Days
The 30-day chip can be one of the most powerful sober gifts to carry around in a newly recovering addict’s pocket. There was a time when a drinking alcoholic could not imagine a single day without a drink, and now, when they’ve passed the first day and have gone a whole month. That is the nature of a drinking problem.
Some of the changes you may see in the first 30 days
- Energy will have increased
- Physical and mental performance will have improved
- Sleeping better
- Mood improves
- Become more honest with yourself and others.
- Relationships will have started to improve
- Money saved due to not buying alcohol or drugs
- Long-term health risks will have been reduced
- No hangovers
What’s Up with the Name?
Not all AA members celebrate their yearly anniversaries. For those that do, the following are some of the names one may hear these chips called:
- Sobriety Tokens
- Sobriety Chip
- AA Tokens
- Recovery Coins
- Birthday Chip
- Humble Coin
- Sober Chips
- Sober Medallions
- Recovery Medallions
Other 12-step programs may use a different name for sobriety chips. For example, Narcotics Anonymous uses key tags rather than A.A. tokens.
AA Anniversary Celebrations
The program of Alcoholics Anonymous anAA celebrations is known as birthday meetings, where sobriety chips are distributed for both monthly and yearly anniversaries. Some AA groups designate specific meetings to distribute AA chips. Call your local program of Alcoholics Anonymous to find out who has recovery meetings that celebrate anniversaries.
The Sobriety Chip, also known as a Desire Chip or 24-hour token, is given at a meeting for 24 hours of sobriety. The recipient could be a newcomer to AA or someone who has had a slip or gone back out and returned to AA. The red chip is the one-month chip for the first 30 days of sobriety. Sometimes, these chips have the Serenity Prayer engraved on one side and the number of sober years in Roman Numerals on the other.
What can someone bring a member of AA to celebrate their anniversary? You can purchase a card and write a sweet message of hope and positive reinforcement for your friend or family member. We have some ideas for anniversary gifts.
Sample of the Variety of Colors for Sobriety Coins
- Silver Chip – 24 hours of sobriety given to a new member
- Red Chip – 30 days (1 month chip)
- Gold Chip – 60 days (2 month chip)
- Green Chip – 90 days (3 month chip)
- Purple Chip – 4 months
- Pink Chip – 5 months
- Dark Blue Chip – 6 months
- Copper Chip – 7 months
- Red Chip – 8 months
- Purple Chip – 9 months
- Gold Chip – 10 months
- Green Chip – 11 months
- Bronze Chip – the first year of sobriety and each year thereafter
A Brief History of The Chips
Handing out sobriety tokens is not a practice of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. The first tokens were distributed when Sister Mary Ignatia, who worked at St. Thomas Hospital, gave out a Sacred Heart medallion to people discharged from the alcoholic treatment facilities there and at other places where she worked. The medallion was given so the recipients could hand it back to Sister Ignatia before they took their next drink.
The origin of AA sobriety chips is considered to have been Doherty S, who started AA in Indianapolis. Colored AA poker chips, like the red poker chip, originated with the Portland (Maine) group. These chips were plastic; today, some step meetings still hand out plastic chips for sober celebrations. Some groups hand out true heavy metal sobriety chips.
Conclusion
The chip system is a tremendous way of acknowledging how much time an AA member has spent sober. No matter how many weeks, months, or years of recovery, the one constant cause for celebration is that you have been sober for today.