Commems Collection Modern: 1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Half Dollar Young Collector's Set

To make each of my Atlanta Olympic Young Collector's Set posts standalone, I have chosen to include the same introduction in all. I have italicized duplicate content.

To date, the largest coin program of the US modern commemorative coin series is the 1995-96 program for the Atlanta Olympics. The program included four CuNi Clad Half Dollars, eight Silver Dollars and four Gold Half Eagles. Each coin was available in Proof and Uncirculated, and, all told, the program included 32 distinct coins (via 16 Design Types).

Each of the Half Dollar coins was available individually, as part of a multi-coin set, in a special single-coin point-of-purchase (POS) package and in four Young Collector's (YC) Sets.

Edition 2 of the Young Collector's Sets was dedicated to Baseball. Baseball has had an on-again / off-again history with the Olympics. It was added as a medal event for the first time at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona (Spain), though it had been a demonstration sport at multiple Olympics previously. The team from Cuba won the Gold Medal, Chinese Taipei won the Silver and Japan won the Bronze in 1992. Baseball was dropped after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but returned in 2021 at the Tokyo Games. It is not scheduled to be part of the 2024 Games in Paris but there is discussion about its return in 2028 when the Games will be held in Los Angeles.

As I've discussed before, the colorful and informative Young Collector's Sets were specifically designed for children ages 6 to 10. They use cartoons and easy-to-understand language to engage kids in the coin collecting hobby and to subtly educate them about US history and coins.

Each of the four Atlanta Olympics YC Sets includes an Uncirculated Half Dollar mounted in a six-panel folder that features youth-oriented artwork (i.e., cartoons) that includes brief information about the Olympic Games, brief information on the sport being presented and brief information on the Mint's YC Set series. "Brief!" was the Mint's guiding principle regarding included content when developing the Sets.

Each coin folder is inserted into a slipcase with coordinating artwork. The front of the slipcase features artwork that wraps around to the back, as well as the Set's titling. The back of the slipcase presents the Set's Certificate of Authenticity and the Half Dollar's Specifications.

The Baseball Half Dollar in the Set is an Uncirculated version, and was struck in San Francisco. Issue Price for the set was $13.95. The Baseball Set sold a total of 40,828 units, plus another 9,705 units included within the Young Collector's Four-Piece Set - the Baseball Set was the top seller among the Young Collector's Sets. The Four-Piece Set includes the YC Set for each Half Dollar plus a dark green slipcase with silver printing (see the image below).


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Slipcase, Front


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Slipcase, Back


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Coin Folder, Front Panel


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Coin Folder, Inside Front Panel


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Coin Folder, Interior Flap, Front


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Coin Folder, Interior Flap, Back


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Coin Folder, Inside Back Panel


1995 Atlanta Olympics Baseball Young Collector's Set -- Coin Folder, Back Panel


1995-96 Atlanta Olympics Four-Piece Young Collector's Sets -- Outer Slipcase