South Korea's "Olympic Bid" Commemorative Coins
An article I published in the Journal of East Asian Numismatics on a series of Olympic Commemoratives issued by South Korea in the 1980's:
See Page 42 of this issue below for the article.
https://issuu.com/jeandigitala1/docs/the_fourteenth_issue_of_jean
This one involves seigniorage funding issues and the all-too-familiar characteristic of Olympics commemoratives: They can raise money for the Olympics, but often not retain market value for collectors.
Comments
"SUN"
Level 6
Nice article. Interesting how the magazine printed articles in the different languages.
Mark Lovmo
Level 4
The Journal for East Asian Numismatics (JEAN) is published out of offices in Taipei and Shanghai, so the articles in each issue are published as bilingual articles, in both Chinese and English. The publisher of JEAN does more than pretty much anybody else to promote numismatics among the Chinese-speaking community in that part of the world. NGC and PCGS have also opened offices in several Asian cities in the last 15 years to respond to the demand for their services.
RPSeitz
Level 4
Not a big fan, but I enjoyed your article.
Longstrider
Level 6
Interesting article you wrote. I agree with you completely. I have no interest in Olympic coins. Pat and Mokie both hit it on the head. Thanks..
PastorK7354
Level 4
BTW, my Dad fought in the Korean War. He was there late 1950-early 1953.
Mike
Level 7
I agree with well worn copper. It's like our currency they want to change our double eagles the design that made this country great and I know they will screw a it up. I'm not a big fan of the Olympics. When it was all amateurs yes now there all professional. I don't care for that. When someone who never worked in there lives but trying to get to the games as soon as they win a gold medal there famous and get huge contracts. Plus all the politics ..I think all that has a lot to do with collecting those coins. The old sets are worth something but are some of these games really games of the Olympics. Half of them I can't see like synchronized swimming please. Thanks for showing the coins those I like to look at.
Mark Lovmo
Level 4
Yep. And then there's the doping in the Olympics... The commemorative coins that come from them wouldn't be so bad, if host countries would issue smaller overall numbers of coins, making them a little more rare. However, that belies the whole point of Olympics commemoratives: They are produced to make money for the national Olympic Committee (and the marketers), and not to give coin collectors unique, rare pieces that will increase in value due to their unique designs and low mintages. So to make money, they have to sell LOTS of them.
It's Mokie
Level 6
Canada started this negative trend in 1973 when they produced 28 coins over 4 years for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. They were 1.5 or .75 Ounce each in $5 and $10 Dollar denominations. They are all now worth only their bullion value.
Mark Lovmo
Level 4
Yep. It seems that the Koreans were following the "larger-scale" approach as demonstrated by the Montreal Games. These coins in this article weren't even the official 1988 Olympics coins! The Koreans made more of those later (32 coins, most of Mint and Proof finishes, for a total of 60 different coins!) in 1987 and 1988. And tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of them! They made so many, in fact, that retailers in Korea and the overseas retailers started asking that the Olympic Committee buy back their unsold stock after the Olympics were over in 1989. They made some money for the Olympics, sure, but the values of these coins makes them some of the cheapest gold and silver coins for their weight. Maybe a little over bullion...
PastorK7354
Level 4
Thank you for the interesting blog.
Well worn Copper
Level 5
Will Olympic commemoratives ever become a good investment? As long as countries issue them with the all too familiar mofits (torches, runners, olympic rings) collectors look at them as same coins, different country, different year. Lessor Olympic-wannabe's (such as the Goodwill Games) do no better. I would love to see an olympic commemorative that makes me want to buy it. I liked the article though. Was not aware of the Journal and will check it out.
It's Mokie
Level 6
At my coin club meeting this month, one of our members mentioned purchasing the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Coin. That was the first coin issued for the modern olympics. Even it is only selling for a little over $20 on Ebay. Sad!!
Liberty Walking Half
Level 5
interesting.... thanks