With the 1983-84 Los Angeles Olympic Games silver and gold commemorative coin program as a reference point, companion bills proposing a Gold Half Eagle and a Silver Dollar "to support the training of American athletes participating in the 1988 Olympic Games" were introduced during the First Session of the 100th Congress.
The first bill was introduced in the House of Representatives ("House") by Frank Anunzio (D-IL) in June 1987. The companion bill in the Senate was introduced by Alphonse D'Amato (R-NY) in August 1987. The House bill was referred to the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, with a further referral to its Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coinage. The Senate bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
The bills called for the minting of up to one million Gold Half Eagles and up to ten million Silver Dollars with designs "emblematic of the participation of American athletes in the 1988 Olympic Games." The Secretary of the Treasury was to have final design selection authority.
The Issue Price of each of the coins was to include a surcharge: $35 for the Gold Half Eagle, $7 for the Silver Dollar. Collected surcharges were to be paid to the United States Olympic Committee "solely to train United States Olympic athletes, to support local or community amateur athletic programs, and to erect facilities for the training of such athletes." Unlike the Los Angeles Olympic coin program, there was no sharing of surcharge funds with a local Organizing Committee as the Games were held in South Korea vs. the United States and no Organizing Committee was needed.
The bullion for the silver coins was to come from the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpile. The bullion for the gold coins was to be sourced from the market per standard US regulations pertaining to such purchases.
The Gold Half Eagles were to be struck at the United States Bullion Depository at West Point; the facility for the Silver Dollars was TBD. Each coin was to be available in Proof and Uncirculated versions, with West Point having the authority to strike both and the Silver Dollar striking to be split between two facilities (one for each version).
Coins could be struck through December 31, 1988. The bills did not specify a start date. Such an omission opened the door for minting to begin in 1987 - but production of the approved coins did not begin until early in 1988.
The Senate version of the bill did not progress past its Committee referral. In fact, the Senate Committee reported the House version of the bill - with an amendment - rather than the Senate version. (The House had already completed its Hearing on its bill.)
The House Subcommittee held a Hearing on its version of the bill; Representative Annunzio was the Chairman (just as he was during consideration of the Los Angeles Olympics commemorative coin program).
The Hearing was quite unusual in terms of its agenda. After opening remarks, three elite-level gymnasts performed brief routines in front of the Subcommittee members: Joyce Wilbourn (an Olympic hopeful), Scott Johnson (1984 Olympic medalist) and Peter Vidmar (1984 Olympic Gymnastic Team Captain and Gold medalist).
Though I'm not sure of the credentials or objectiveness of the Subcommittee members, each of the athletes received a perfect score of 10 from the Subcommittee (one Subcommittee member awarded a score of 1-0-1/2 to each!). 
The Hearing did not delve into technical matters as what happened in Hearing for the Los Angeles Olympics coin program, it was primarily an opportunity for mulitple past Olympic athletes to briefly present their personal story and discuss the importance of the coin program to Olympic athletes and amateur athletics. Athlete witnesses who testified were:
- Theresa Andrews: Gold Medalist - Swimming; 1984 Olympics
- Jeff Blatnick: Gold Medalist - Wrestling; 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
- Rowdy Gaines: Gold Medalist - Swimming; 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
- Paul Gonzales: Gold Medalist - Boxing; 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
- Tommy Kono: Gold Medalist - Weightlifting; 1952 Helsinki, Finland and 1956 Melbourne, Australia Olympics
- Michelle Mitchell: Silver Medalist - Diving; 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
- Peter Vidmar: Gold Medalist & Team Captain - Men's Gymnastics; 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
Following the gymastic routines, Robert H. Helmick, President of the US Olympic Committee, addressed the Hearing. He began his remarks by recalling the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics coin program:
"First of all, may I take this opportunity to from the bottom of our hearts thank the committee for the 1984 Coin Act. Really we couldn't have done it, we really could not have done it without that money that came to us. It made the difference in the final days, in the final weeks and in the final months in the preparation of our athletes. We were able to really support them as the Coin Act stated.
"The good thing about that, the Coin Act, the good thing about the funds is it went right to the bottom line, and the bottom line are the athletes, and that's who we have to support here."Note: The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic coin program generated $73.5 million for US Olympic efforts/athletes. The 1988 coin program had the potential to raise ~$105 million if it were to sell out its authorized limits.Helmick continued his testimony by stressing the importance of the funds generated by coin programs to amateur athletic programs nationwide.
George D. Miller, Executive Director, US Olympic Committee, followed Helmick and focused on funding and Training Centers for the Olympic athletes. He pointed out a distinct difference in how the US funds its Olympic athletes vs. many other countries:
"What is misunderstood throughout the world is the fact that this country is different than many other countries of the world who rely upon their governments for support. Our government, while providing us with the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 which gives us the tools in the control of the Olympic marks to support ourselves, does not provide direct sustained funding. But through measures such as this [the coin bill] they have firmly indicated their support of the Olympic movement as they did during the last quadrennium and as Mr. Annunzio's bill has clearly indicated for the current quadrennium."The testimony of the Olympic athletes then proceeded, and was followed by the statement of Bill Toomey, Director, Volunteer Fundraising, US Olympic Committee and Gold Medalist (Decathlon) at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
Mr. Toomey spoke very broefly, believing the importance of the coin program's fundraising had already been covered. One new point he did add, however, regarded the growing field of sports science:
"We have a great potential now to help our athletes through sports science, and I am a big believer in this because it opens the opportunity for proper training, but it also provides a safety factor and information about life styles and about health."Peter Vidmar then offered his thoughts, stressing again the importance of funding to potential Olympic athletes:
"I think there is a misconception that many people have of where the money goes in the U.S. Olympic Committee . A lot of people start to give their donations and the money comes in, oh, just a few months before the Games because they think well, these athletes, they need to hop on that plane and get over to Seoul, Korea, and that's where the money goes is to send these athletes to the Games, and that is far from the truth.
"The great majority of the money is to help prepare the athletes, not only from a grass-roots level, but of course in the elite level and to have those athletes have a chance to prepare not only 1 year before the games, but 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 years before the Olympics because, as you know, the preparation begins long beforehand."Joyce Wilbourn followed Vidmar with a brief comment about being glad to participate in the Hearing.
The Subcommittee than held its markup session - atypically - as part of the public Hearing. Making no amendments to the bill, it passed it unanimously and reported it to the full Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee.
The full Committee moved to have the bill reported, but, before it was, the House voted to discharge the Committee and consider the bill - it passed. The bill was then sent to the Senate for its consideration, and was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
The Senate Committee made a small amendment to the bill, at the request of the US Treasury Department, extending the expiration date of coining authority from December 31, 1988 to June 30, 1989 in consideration of realistic design and production timelines. The Senate passed the amended bill and returned it to the House.
The House passed the amended bill and forwarded it to the President. US President Ronald Reagan on October 28, 1987.
See Part II - The Coins for the conclusion to this story.For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other Modern US Commemorative Coin stories, see:
Commems Collection
Posted Today 4H 51M ago
