In view of the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, a bill to establish commemorative coins was recently reintroduced at the initiative of Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who was head of the Organizing Committee for the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games.
View of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Credits – LAColiseum)
Through a bipartisan bill, elected Republicans and Democrats intend to support in a unique way the deployment of the Olympic and Paralympic project of LA 2028.
If in the United States, the financing of the Games comes from private funds – with the necessary logistical support in terms of security – this proposal provides for the mobilization ofUnited States Department of the Treasurythe US Treasury, for issuing commemorative coins bearing the image of the 2028 Games.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney and two of his colleagues from the ranks of the Democratic party, Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein, thus took advantage of the anniversary date of July 14 – which will be the day of celebration of the Opening Ceremony of the Games in summer 2028 – to present to the Senate the proposal “LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coin Act”which was introduced in the House of Representatives in March 2023 through elected Democrat Brad Sherman.
This bipartisan legislation would – if passed by Congress – direct the Treasury Department to mint and issue four commemorative coins, coins that would be minted at no cost to the federal government and whose proceeds from the sale would be donated to the Organizing Committee for the LA 2028 Games.
The parts in question would be as follows, with the characteristics detailed below, namely:
A 5 dollar gold coinwith a limited edition of 100,000 copies, for a weight of 8.359 grams, a diameter of 2.159 centimeters, and a composition of at least 90% gold;
A silver 1 dollar coinwith a limited edition of 500,000 copies, for a weight of 26.73 grams, a diameter of 3.81 centimeters, and a composition of at least 90% silver;
A gold-plated half dollar coinwith a limited edition of 300,000 copies, for a weight of 11.34 grams and a diameter of 3.06 centimeters;
A silver coin Proof – equivalent of the French name “Beautiful Test” – from 1 dollarwith a limited edition of 100,000 copies, for a weight of 141.74 grams and a diameter of 7.62 centimeters.
These four coins would be sold – as of January 1, 2028 – on the basis of the face value of each, also taking into account a surcharge of 35 dollars for the first, 10 dollars for the second, 5 dollars for the third, and $50 for the fourth. To these amounts would also be added a pro rata relating to the costs of design and manufacturing.
Certain elements should also imperatively appear on the minted coins, be it the designation of the value of each coin of course, the inscription of the year “2028”but also mentions specific to the United States, i.e. “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, “United States of America” et “Out of many, one”.
The selection of the stylized representations for the four coins would at the same time be carried out by the Secretary to the Treasury, after consultation with theUnited States Olympic and Paralympic Properties (USOPP) which manages the marketing for LA 2028 and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), as well as the Fine Arts Commission, and the Citizens’ Currency Advisory Committee.
(Credits – LA 2028)
The initiative of the aforementioned elected officials is part of one of the components of the strategy marketing specific to each Host of the Games, with the possibility given to the organizers of being able to have income from the sale of official products under license, philatelic products and numismatic products.
Also, as part of its application, LA 2024 – which later became LA 2028 – had put forward potential revenues in 2016 of around $226 million, i.e. $206 million from official licensed products, $10 million for philatelic products, and 10 million also relating in particular to the setting up of a coin programme.
By way of comparison, Paris 2024 had projected for its share of revenues of around 113.906 million euros (2016 value) for licenses and merchandisingincluding 110.325 million for official licensed products, 581,000 euros for philatelic products produced by The Laterand finally 3 million euros for the sale of commemorative and collector coins produced by the Money of Paris.
The LA 2028 initiative is in any case to be compared – and like a hyphen – with the program established during the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games, an edition of which the President of the Organizing Committee no was other than Mitt Romney.
As the elected official from Utah, former Governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007) and candidate for the 2012 presidential election against Barack Obama, pointed out:
The Olympic Games showcase the greatness of the human spirit, and it was one of the greatest honors of my life to host the 2002 Salt Lake City Games..
Proof of this memory and the attachment that Mitt Romney still has for the Games, the latter was asked at the dawn of the establishment of an American candidacy for 2024, before supporting the Boston (Massachusetts) project for the Games. summer, then to provide unfailing support behind Salt Lake City in the quest for a new organization of the Winter Olympics.
Today, the Senator is once again demonstrating his attachment to the work of the American Olympic and Paralympic Movement, taking some of his colleagues with him.
For the Director of External Affairs of LA 2028, the commitment of these elected officials is obviously appreciable now less than five years from the opening of the Games.
As Michelle Schwartz put it:
We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the United States in the summer of 2028.
Approximately 15,000 of the world’s best athletes will come to America to compete on sport’s greatest stage and we look forward to celebrating this once-in-a-generation moment across the country.
We appreciate the leadership of Senators Padilla and Romney in supporting a commemorative coin program for the LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
