Of all the modern commemoratives to have made the list of Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest Modern United States Coins, this next blog entry might have the most interesting of stories. While not outrageous by any means, it caused quite a controversy at the time. With help from authors Jeff Garrett and Scott Schechter, we will take a closer look at the inception and production of one of most popular and infamous modern commemoratives to date.
#95 – 1992-D XXV Olympiad (Baseball) Dollar Commemorative
Three coins were authorized under the 1992 Olympic Commemorative Coin Act that sought to help raise money for the training of athletes partaking in the 1992 Olympic Games. Those coins include a copper-nickel-clad half dollar, silver dollar and a $5 gold coin. The silver dollar specifically had only one condition when it came to the design: “it should be emblematic of the participation of American athletes in the 1992 Olympic Games.”
Nick Brady, the Secretary of the Treasury at the time, openly invited designs for the coins and went on to select the winners after consulting with both the United States Olympic Committee and the Commission of Fine Arts. The silver dollar’s winning design featured a baseball player pitching a ball to home plate. While baseball was not actually considered an Olympic sport, they recognized it as an exhibition. For the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, they finally introduced it as a sport and included it for the first time ever to which medals would be awarded.
Designed by John R. Deecken, the coin shows a right-handed pitcher in motion. A maximum of four million coins were authorized in legislation. However, only 187,552 were sold of the Denver minted Uncirculated dollar and 504,505 were sold of the Proof version from San Francisco. One of the most unique features of the Denver coin was the fact that it has a lettered edge with the phrase XXV OLYMPIAD incused on its edge four times. This was the first lettered edge coin to come from the United States Mint since 1933.
While the lettered edge was worth noting, it was not the most talked about feature of the silver dollar. The design sparked quite the controversy as collectors noted the resemblance to the image of the 1991 Fleer baseball card featuring Nolan Ryan. The image matched perfectly, down to the detail of Ryan’s arms, gloves, stride, and more. It matched so well that some questioned the legality of the coin even though there was never a formal investigation. The Mint in addition to Deecken denied the comparison and its intention.
The coin became so well-known for its similarity to the baseball card that it was referred to as the Nolan Ryan dollar in the secondary market.
Since its first appearance in the first edition of this publication, the 1992-D Baseball Dollar Commemorative has dropped six spots from #89.