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THROUGH THE NUMISMATIC GLASS: US COINS COMMEMORATING THE OLYMPICS

By Dr THOMAS F FITZGERALD

The champions have been acclaimed and the medals awarded. The races and competitions are ended even while the drug testing continued to play a major role in the games. The Olympic torch has been extinguished and the closing ceremonies were spectacular. Everyone seemed pleased with the 2000 Olympic Summer Games held in Australia and the focus is now on the 2002 Winter Games scheduled for Salt Lake City, Utah.

What would it be like, these days, to hold Olympic games without commemorative coins? Many of these coins were never minted to circulate, while a few found their way into the nation’s commerce. Olympic commemorative coins have become an industry unto themselves. Traditionally commemorative coins have served a number of purposes and celebrated a wide range of events and anniversaries, it is difficult to determine the exact catalyst for the plethora of the Olympic commemorative coins now seen entering the market place. In fact, one could make an argument that the modern Olympic games are the most frequently commemorated events with coinage.

The first special commemorative coins issued for the modern Olympics were struck for the XV Olympic Games held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. In honor of that event, the Finish Mint struck silver 500-markkaa coins meant to circulate with Finland’s regular coinage. The program proved so successful, that a flood of coins soon followed to commemorate (and raise money), for each and every summer and winter Olympic Game since that time.

To celebrate the most recent Sidney Olympic Games, the Perth Mint, the Royal Australian Mint and the Sidney Olympic Games Organizing Committee issued a 52-coin program beginning in October, 1997 with a final series released this year. Eight gold coins, 16 silver coins and 28 bronze coins comprised the full program. United States Olympic Coins

Although the United States did not issue any special coins for the recent Sidney, Australia games, (a bill to do so failed to pass congress), this has not been true of earlier events. In fact, no single theme has been the subject of more United States Commemorative coins than has the Olympic games. Four separate coinage programs have raised more than $131.7 million in surcharges. Many believe these funds have been generated primarily from the numismatic hobby and feel this is an unfair burden for coin collectors to carry.

Two commemorative coin plans were designed to raise funds to train athletes for participation in games held outside the United States. Two of the programs have involved the production of commemorative coins when the United States was the host country for the 1984 and 1996 Summer Olympic Games. One of these issues, 1996, carries the dubious honor of being the most extensive commemorative coin program in our nation’s history. The result is, with the first such coinage dated 1983-84, mintages have skyrocketed and sales have plummeted.

1984 Summer Olympic games Silver dollars and gold $10 eagles were produced to raise funds for the 1984 summer games held in Los Angeles, California. Four mints were employed to strike proof and uncirculated offerings. These coins soon followed the George Washington Commemorative half-dollar of 1982, the first U S commemorative coin since 1954. Representative Frank Annunzio, D-Ill, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coinage authored a successful bill calling for a three-design, six coin program that was signed into law by President Reagan. Uncirculated silver dollars dated 1983 (designed by Elizabeth Jones) and 1984 (designed by Robert Graham) were minted carrying the mintmarks “D” (Denver Mint) and “P” (Philadelphia) and “S” (San Francisco Assay Office). Note: the facility at San Francisco did not regain full mint status (lost in 1962) until March 31, 1988. Proof silver dollars for both years were also struck at the San Francisco facility with an “S” mintmark.

The $10 gold eagles, designed by James Peed and John Mercanti, were minted only in 1984 with proofs produced at the Denver, Philadelphia, San Francisco and West Point mints with their respective mintmarks. The facility at West Point also struck uncirculated $10 gold coins bearing the “W” mintmark. Although Representative Annunzio’s bill called for a six coin program, the production of proof coins from all four facilities created a 13-coin program for collectors who desired to have one coin in uncirculated and proof condition from every mint that produced them. This increase, although legal because treasury officials authorized it, certainly wasn’t what Representative Annunzio had in mind.

Although the legislation provided for 2 million gold coins and 50 million silver dollars, the sale’s results fell far below these figures. There were 4,472,110 silver dollars sold and 573,364 gold coins sold with the surcharges divided equally between the U S Olympic Committee and the Los Angeles Organizing Committee.

1988 Olympic games Four years after the United States produced its first Olympic commemorative coins, a second series was authorized. However, this time the nation was not hosting the games. The 1988 summer Olympic games took place in South Korea and the winter events were scheduled for Calgary, Canada. The 1988 legislation called for 1 million proof and uncirculated $5 gold half eagles and 10 million silver dollars. Sales of the silver dollars, designed by Patricia L Verani and Sheri J Winter, totaled 191,368 uncirculated coins with the “D” mintmark and 1,359,366 1988S proof dollars. The facility at West Point produced all of the gold half eagles with the obverse designed by Elizabeth Jones and the reverse completed by Marcel Jovine. Some critics claimed this half eagle was among the finest of all United States commemorative coins. As a result of the popularity of this issue, the gold coin was sold out during the pre-sale ordering period. A total of 62,913 uncirculated and 281,465 proof 1988 half eagles were sold. A total of $22,909,764 in surcharges to benefit the nation’s program was turned over to the USOC.

1992 Olympic games The United States’ third Olympic coin program, like the second reported above, was authorized even though the games were held outside the country. The 1992 summer games took place in Barcelona, Spain and the winter events were held in Albertville, France.

The silver dollar was the most interesting, encompassing several firsts for this series. The proof and uncirculated designs of the dollar, engraved by John Deechen and Marcel Jovine, bear a baseball pitcher many believe to be taken from a baseball card depicting Nolan Ryan. This was the first US coin to commemorate the most “American sport”, baseball. The uncirculated 1992D dollars, struck at the Denver Mint, also included edge lettering, which had not been seen on any American coin since the 1933 double eagle. The coin includes both incused edge lettering and reeding. The edge lettering reads: “XXV OLYMPIAD”.

The 1992 legislation was for a three coin program. The authorization was for up to 500,000 $5 half eagles, (designed by Jim Sharpe and James Peed), 4 million silver dollars and 6 million copper-nickel clad half dollars designed by William Cousins and Steven Bieda. The sales, far from reaching expectations, were: 105,045 half eagles, 692,057 silver dollars and 681,252 half dollars with $9,202,206 in surcharges going to the USOC.

1996 Summer Olympic games The 1995-1996 legislation authorizing commemorative coins for the games scheduled in Atlanta, Georgia, nearly killed the United States commemorative coins program. As a result, there was a demand for reform in Congress by limiting mintages and efforts to eliminate the abuse of the system, such as creating additional mint marked coins. The 1996 Olympic commemorative coin program was the largest United States commemorative program in history. When passed in 1992, the legislation authorizing the 1996 program included a separate title, “The Mint Reform Act of 1992”. This Act established the “Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee” to advise Congress on commemorative coin matters.

The 1996 Olympic coin program provided up to 16 issues with proof and uncirculated versions bringing the total, for a complete set, of 32 coins. As adopted, the bill authorized up to 17.95 million coins over the duration of the two years (1995-96). As sales languished, Congress took steps to trim millions off of the authorized production figures with a final figure of no more than 13 million coins. Very low sales figures resulted in low mintage figures with the result that some issues are among the lowest mintages of any United States commemorative coins.

In brief, the program called for the following issues:

Date/Mint       Denomination        Design           Designer          No. Sold
1995S  Unc 1995S  Proof	Clad Half   Dollar	Basketball	Clint Hansen & T James Ferrell	169,527    170,733
1995S  Unc   1995S  Proof	Clad Half   Dollar	Baseball	Edgar Z Steever  &  T James Ferrell	164,759     119,396
1995D  Unc  1995S  Proof	Silver      Dollar	Gymnastics	Jim Sharpe & William Krawczewicz	  43,003    185,158
1995D  Unc  1995S  Proof	Silver     Dollar	Cycling	John Mercanti  & William Krawczewicz	  20,122   127,465
1995D  Unc  1995S  Proof	Silver   Dollar	Track & Field	John Mercanti   & William Krawczewicz	  25,425    143,304
1995D   Unc   1995S   Proof	Silver     Dollar	Blind Runner	Jim Sharpe & William Krawczewicz	  29,015    139,831
1995W  Unc  1995W Proof 	Gold Half  Eagle	Torch Runner	Frank Gasparro 	 14,817                             57,870                                
1995W  Unc   1995W Proof	Gold Half  Eagle	Atlanta Stadium	Marcel Jovine & Frank Gasparo	 10,710      43,399
1996S  Unc  1996S  Proof	Clad Half Dollar	Swimming	William Krawczewicz & Malcolm Farley	  50,077    114,890
1996S  Unc   1996S Proof	Clad Half Dollar	Soccer	Clint Hansen & Malcolm Farley	  53,176  123,860
1996D  Unc  1996S  Proof	Silver Dollar	Tennis	Jim Sharpe & Thomas D Rogers	16,693       93,880
1996D  Unc  1996S  Proof	Silver Dollar	Rowing	Bart Forbes & Thomas D Rogers	 16,921   155,543
1996D   Unc  1996S  Proof	Silver Dollar	High Jump	Calvin Massey  & Thomas D Rogers	  16,485   127,173
1996D  Unc  1996S  Proof	Silver Dollar	Wheelchair Athlete	Jim Sharpe & Thomas D Rogers	 15,325      86,352
1996W  Unc   1996W Proof	Gold Half Eagle	Olympic Flame	Frank Gasparo & William Krawczwicz	9,453          38,871
1996W  Unc     1996W  Proof	Gold Half Eagle	Flag Bearer	Patricia L Verani & William Krawczewicz	 9,397        33,214