Other sports on coins

[Bimat]

Hi all,
Many coins have been issued worldwide,with sports personalities or on the occasion of some event (Olympics etc).Collecting such sporty coins can be a good option for thematic collection.What do you think?
Australia issued a 5$ bimetallic commemorative on Don Bradman (I need this one for my collection,haven't got it yet )
India also issued commemorative coins on the occasion of 9th Asian games few years ago.
South Africa will be issuing a commemorative on FIFA world cup next year.
And many more..

Aditya

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[Figleaf]

It's an expensive field. Every two years, the pseudo coin issuers get an acute coin diarrhea when there are Olympics and winter Olympics coming up (irrespective of where they are held), with the Canadian mint now mixing in pieces for the paralympics plus all kinds of other sports contests from South-East Asian games to the Commonwealth Games and I haven't even mentioned the latest folly yet: backward looking "commemoratives", such as the UK piece for the 1908 Olympics. Practically none of these pieces will ever see any circulation at all. See this site to get an idea of what you are getting into. This doesn't even include car racing, soccer and tennis stuff.

If you really have so much money, why not go for the real thing?

Peter

[Bimat]

Depends.If someone is collecting only proof issues,then,no doubt,it will be expensive for him.But there are many such issues which are(or were) in circulation and are still available for a good price.
For example,If I talk about the Portugal 2 Euro commemorative to be released this year as discussed here,it will not be so expensive even if you buy it from dealer.The same thing may work for other coins too.Like for Spain,which has issued a commemorative on soccer world cup is not so expensive.So it depends on your choice.

Aditya

[Figleaf]

It does (Greece also issued a 2 euro Olympics), but you have to reconcile two thoughts.

One is collecting by theme, which is expensive, because it's about pictures, so all the pseudo coins are relevant. Your best chance of making it cheaper would be to collect Olympic souvenirs of all kinds, with the coins mixed in.

The other thought is collecting coins for their role as money. A collection of Olympic (or sports) coins would tell the story of coins in circulation with a sports theme, showing the importance of sports in history and society. A coin of Elis, as shown in my previous post, would fit in such a collection. You could set your starting date late, though I think you should at least have a few pictures of the coins of Elis. The problem remains that the story of the collection doesn't work.

Let me give you an example. Games may be held for three main reasons: religious, war and entertainment. The modern Olympics are an example of games for entertainment. The ancient Olympic games are an example of games held for religious reasons. The Highland games were originally a way for noblemen to test the strengths of warriors, so they could select men for their army or bodyguard. AFAIK, there isn't a single coin issued for this last type of games.

Another example: Sports coins were issued in ancient and modern times, but not in between. Does that mean that people didn't practice sports in the middle ages? Of course not (just think of the many paintings showing people sailing or ice skating), but you will not find coins that illustrate it. At best, your collection shows that in most centuries, sports were not considered important enough to figure on coins. That's a pretty negative reason to collect ...

Peter

[Figleaf]

All of which is not meant to say you can't collect sports coins. It's just a warning that if you are after more than chasing the coins you want (which can be fun by itself), you may well be disappointed. There's either a need for a lot of money or a lack of systematic illustration of the subject to cope with.

Peter

[chrisild]

Most modern coins issued on the occasion of sports events - be it the Olympics, some world cup or championship, etc. - are issued as fundraisers. They often cost more than face, and even those issued at face value are usually expected to "disappear" in collections. Nothing wrong with that, but I am not interested in such pieces. If they are issued as parts of some series that I collect, e.g. €2 commems, I will want them - otherwise I don't really care.

Aditya, you should not have mentioned Spain in this context. Let's see what they have issued, in terms of sports coins, so far ... and this is just euro pieces:

€10 (2002) Winter Olympics 2002 Salt Lake City
€100 (2002) Football World Cup 2002 Japan-Korea "G"
€10 (2002) Football World Cup 2002 Japan-Korea "O"
€10 (2002) Football World Cup 2002 Japan-Korea "L" (G+O+L = gol which means goal)
€10 (2003) Swimming World Championship 2003 Barcelona
€100 (2003) Football World Cup 2006 Germany
€10 (2003) Football World Cup 2006 Germany
€10 (2004) Summer Olympics 2004 Athens
€100 (2004) Football World Cup 2006 Germany
€10 (2004) Football World Cup 2006 Germany
€10 (2005) Winter Olympics 2006 Torino
€300 (2005) Football World Cup 2006 Germany
€10 (2006) Basketball World Championship 2006 Japan (Winner Spain)
€300 (2006) Basketball World Championship 2006 Japan (Winner Spain)
€10 (2007) Basketball Euro Cup 2007 Spain
€10 (2007) Ibero-American Series - Olympics: Sailing
€200 (2008) Football Euro Cup 2008 Austria-Switzerland (Winner Spain)
€10 (2008) Football Euro Cup 2008 Austria-Switzerland (Winner Spain)
€100 (2009) Football World Cup 2010 South Africa
€10 (2009) Football World Cup 2010 South Africa

The last two have not been issued yet but will come later this year. The €10 coins are silver and (contrary to €12 pieces) not available at face but cost roughly 40 euro each. The €100 (and above) are gold coins ... Not expensive, eh?

Christian

[Bimat]

I agree,But why should we consider only the proof issues? There are many other commemorative issues by Australia,United Kingdom,India etc etc which are not so difficult to find (or at least you don't need to pay a price as high as 100 Euro  ).

Aditya

[Destrans]

[Gusev]

Canada, 50 cents, 2002.

Pole Climbing.

[Afrasi]

Nero as winner of the Argeian Games. He often visited the classic games and of course he did win all of them.

Otherwise the winning sportsman would have been one head shorter soon.

The shown goddess is Hera Argeia.

[<k>]

Isle of Man, 1 crown, 2014.  Curling.

[<k>]

Belize, 10 dollars, 1996.  Softball. Olympic Games.

[<k>]

Bulgaria, 10 leva, 1988.  Summer Olympics, Seoul.

False news? Or were those men on drugs?

Either way, it's time to expel Bulgaria from the EU. 

[<k>]

UK, 50 pence, 2011.  Hockey. Olympics.

[<k>]

Barbados, $20, 1998.  Hurdler.