Olympic Sales Figures Reveal Lowest Levels for Modern Commemoratives

Washington, D.C. – Sales of the U.S. Olympic Coins of the Atlanta Centennial Games reveal that proof and uncirculated gold, silver and clad coin sales–to–date are the lowest or among the lowest of all modern commemoratives.

The consequences of the low demand for 1995–96 Olympic Coins is that collectors still have the opportunity to purchase coins that will have among the lowest mintages of all the modern commemoratives,@ said Mint Director Philip N. Diehl. ASome mintages are remarkably low, especially among the uncirculated coins, and many of these were sold overseas in 32–coin sets that are unlikely to be broken up. We want our collectors to be aware of this unique opportunity while the Olympic coins are still available from the Mint.

Sold mintages of the 1995–96 Olympic Proof and Uncirculated Gold Five Dollar Coins are among the lowest ever for gold commemoratives of the U.S. Mint. Comparable mintages were struck for the 1926 U.S. Sesquicentennial $2.50–coin (46,019), and the 1915 Panama–Pacific Exposition Dollar (15,000) and $2.50–coin (6,749).

Sales of 1995–96 Olympic Proof Silver Dollars are well below the previous lowest mintages in the modern series. The 1994 U.S. Veterans Women in Military Service to America Proof Silver Dollar is the closest at 241,278. Sales of 1995–96 Olympic Uncirculated Silver Dollars are also well below previous records. The 1995 Civil War Battlefield Uncirculated Silver Dollar is the closest at 45,866.

Sales of the 1995–96 Olympic Proof Clad Half Dollar are the four lowest levels in the category, with the 1993 World War II 50th Anniversary Proof Clad Half Dollar the closest at 316,673 coins. 1995–96 Olympic Clad Uncirculated Half Dollar sales are among the lowest sales levels in that category, with the 1995 Civil War Battlefield Clad Uncirculated Half Dollar at 119,520.

Sales comparisons do not include the ongoing commemorative coin programs: the National Community Service Silver Dollar, the Smithsonian 150th Anniversary Coins, and U.S. Botanic Garden Silver Dollar. All sales figures are provisional through June 30, 1997.

For information about how to purchase the Olympic Coins of the Atlanta Centennial Games, call (202) 283–COIN (2646) or write: Customer Service Center, United States Mint, 10003 Derekwood Lane, Lanham, MD 20706–2255.