Fans of US Olympic commemorative coins (or Olympic commemorative coins in general) almost received a gift that would have kept on giving had a bill introduced in February 1997 in the US Senate by Ted Stevens (R-AK) succeeded.
The bill called for the establishing of "a recurring biannual Olympic commemorative coins program" that would have authorized up to 500,000 Silver Dollars (SDs) be struck "in each 6-month period prior to the date upon which the Summer or Winter Olympic Games are held in a nation other than the United States." The bill would have ensured that every Olympic Games not hosted by the US would be commemorated with a coin program, but it would also have potentially limited such coin programs to Silver Dollars (i.e., no Gold coins or Copper-Nickel Clad Half Dollars). Of course, coin legislation for a particular Olympic Games could easily have replaced or supplemented the Silver Dollar program with a larger, multi-coin release.
The bill also addressed Olympic Games held within the US. In each year prior to a year in which the Summer or Winter Olympic Games are held in the United States, the Secretary shall develop an expanded multi-coin commemorative coins program in consultation with the [United States Olympic Committee] and the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee. The Secretary shall issue such coins in the 6-month period prior to the date upon which such games are held."
The SDs issued for non-US-hosted Games were to carry a surcharge of $10 per coin; the surcharges for coins issued in conjunction with US-hosted Games were to be set on a case-by-case basis within a range of $1 to $50. The beneficiary of collected surcharges was to be the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
An interesting provision of the bill was its "Exclusivity" clause. It stated, "During the first 2 months of each period in which coins are issued under this Act, the Secretary shall not issue other commemorative coins." Nothing like Congress removing competition for a coin program designed to support an international competition! Oh, the irony!
Upon its introduction, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking; it was not reported out. Thus, each Olympic Games is treated separately, with some securing Congressionally-authorized commemorative coins (e.g., 2002 Salt Lake City (Utah) Winter Olympics) and some not (e.g., 2012 London Summer Olympic Games). Personally, I'm fine with coins for US-hosted Games, but prefer to pass on non-US-hosted Games - let the USOC market souvenir medals for such Games.
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other modern commemorative coin What If? stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 04/28/2025 7:49 pm
