Description

The Front

The front of the coin is simple. The center is Jeff’s personal logo. Important here are the two instruments shown, a sword, indicative of skill at arms and the quill pen, indicative of being an author. Both skill at arms and writing were Jeff’s passions. The quotation around the outside comes from the title of Jeff’s 1998 book, To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth. Jeff had a passion for all three – as a driver (and one time racer), firearms teacher and proponent, and in his search for and dedication to the truth (in both speaking and writing). The title of the book is most likely a modification of a statement about the Persians from Herodotus’ book The History: “Their sons are carefully instructed from their fifth to their twentieth year, in three things alone,— to ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth.”

The Back 

The other side of the coin illustrates three of Jeff’s major contributions to practical firearms training and use. On the outside of the triangle are the words Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas – latin for accuracy, power, and speed – the cornerstones of practical pistol shooting. Jeff coined this phrase, or motto, which became the motto of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). Jeff was a founding member of IPSC and its first World Chairman.

The triangle has three tiers. The tiers are color coded, yellow, orange and red, the central colors in Jeff Cooper’s color code. White is not included because it has little relevance to those who live by Jeff Cooper’s color code – where we spend most of our time in yellow and avoid being caught in white. Each of the colors also has an element of the combat triad printed on it. The combat triad was Jeff’s rendition of the three elements that were needed to succeed in a lethal encounter, Mindset, Gunhandling, Marksmanship. Each of the elements is in one of the colors, where it is the most important element – although all three are important at any stage. Mindset is in the yellow block because it is mindset, the constant awareness of events around you, relaxed awareness, that is central to being in yellow. Gunhandling is on the orange block because when you alert on a specific potential threat, it is time to think about how you might handle this threat if things go south – gunhandling, or tactics. Marksmanship is on the red block because at this point, you are prepared to shoot based on a specific indicator, and if you shoot, only hits count.