As a collector of Canada's commemorative silver dollars (SDs) in addition to US commemorative coins, I keep an eye out for potential cross-overs in the collections.
Bills calling for US commemorative coins in support of the summer World University Games, being held in Buffalo, New York in July 1993, were introduced during the 101st and 102nd Congresses. Such a coin program would have created a direct cross-over with my Canadian SD collection as Canada issued a coin to mark the 1983 Universiade (a combination of "University" and "Olympiad") held In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
I've posted about the Canadian SD, and suggest giving it a quick look if you are interested in the Games. You can find it here:
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1983 University GamesSenator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) was behind the bill's introduction in the Senate in both Congresses; Representative John LaFalce (D-NY) did the same in the House of Representatives. The bills were introduced in the 101st Congress in August 1989; the bills of the 102nd Congress were introduced in June 1992. They were referred to either the House or Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, as appropriate.
The US coin program in both Congresses was to consist of two commemorative coins, a Gold Half Eagle and a Silver Dollar. In the 101st Congress, the bills called for up to 1,000,000 Half Eagles and up to 10,000,000 Silver Dollars. (Go Big! or Go Home!
) The requested amounts were scaled back in the 102nd Congress, with the bills requesting up to 200,000 Half Eagles and up to 2,000,000 Silver Dollars. (Though the amounts were lowered significantly, the 10:1 Silver:Gold ratio was maintained across Congresses.) Each of the coins was to be minted in line with standard US specifications for coins of the given metal and denomination.
Both coins were to feature designs "emblematic of the participation of American athletes in the World University Games." Unlike the trend in modern US commemorative coins that began with the 2014 National
Baseball Hall of Fame coin program - i.e., the same design used on multiple coins - it is likely that the 1993 Half Eagle and Dollar of the World University Games program would have featured different designs for the same theme.
The sponsor of the coins was the Greater Buffalo Athletic Corporation; it was to coordinate its design selections with the Commission on Fine Arts.
1993 World University Games - Buffalo Logo
The issue price of each Half Eagle was to include a surcharge of $35.00, with the price charged for the Dollar to include a surcharge of $7.00. Collected surcharge funds were to be used by the Greater Buffalo Athletic Corporation "to support local or community amateur athletic programs, to erect facilities for the use of such athletes, and to underwrite the cost of sponsoring the World University Games."
Neither bill introduced in the 101st Congress developed much support, and neither was reported out of Committee.
Though the bills of the 102nd Congress did generate a fair number of co-sponsors - 118 in the House and 40 in the Senate - neither generated enough backing in Committee to be reported out.
As a result of Committee inaction, none of the four bills was ever considered by its full chamber and so never came to be. Coins for the 1992 Olympic Games were approved in the 101st Congress, and the large coin program for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta was approved in the 102nd Congress. The "glamour" of the Olympics may have proved to be too strong a competitor!
The Games may not have gotten commemorative coins, but they were recognized with a commemorative stamp from the United States Postal Service (USPS).
1993 World University Games Postage - Buffalo Postage Stamp
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other What If? stories from the classic and modern eras of US commemorative coins, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 11/03/2023 07:37 am
