Mission
The Olympic Philately, Numismatic and memorabilia Commission is responsible for advising the IOC on the dissemination of the Olympic ideal through the worldwide promotion of stamps, coins and items commemorating the Olympic Games.
Stamps at the origin
Collecting items commemorating the Olympic Games started with the first Games of the modern era in 1896.
Olympic stamps, issued to balance the budget of the Organising Committee, were the first objects of Olympic collecting, and have been the passion of several generations of philatelists. Collectors of Olympic memorabilia soon joined stamp collectors and, in 1951, when Olympic coins were struck for the first time, coin enthusiasts also entered the world of Olympic collectors.
Olympic culture
Olympic collectibles have always fascinated Olympic fans, parallel to the social-sport explosion of the Olympic Games. In the early days, Olympic collectibles were not really linked to the Movement itself. This changed rapidly and they became part of an Olympic culture, part of its history and its art. Olympic collectibles also contributed to promoting the Olympic ideal - both locally and internationally.
Composition
The Olympic Philately, numismatic and memorabilia commission is mainly composed of experts in the various fields of collecting.
CHAIRMAN
Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH
VICE-CHAIRMAN
Mr Gerhard HEIBERG
MEMBERS
Mr Albert M. BECK
Mr Maurizio TECARDI
Mr Jean VARGA
Mr Francis WICHT
Mr Ching-Kuo WU
Mr Manfred BERGMAN
COORDINATOR
Mr David MAIDEN
Philately
Olympic Philately has a special position in philately and a particular bond with the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games.
Athens 1896
Those Olympic stamps were the first sports stamps, the father of them all. Today, for each Olympic Games, the host nation’s postal administration has an extensive stamp and philatelic programme, and nations participating at the Olympic Games are encouraged to issue a set of stamps. Typically, about 100 nations issue Olympic stamps for the Olympic Summer Games, and about 40 nations issue stamps for the Olympic Winter Games.
A Special Theme for Collectors
Thousands of Olympic-sport collectors are organised worldwide in 31 chapters of the International Federation of Olympic Philatelists (FIPO). Every two years, at Games time, many thousands of people who are not normally stamp collectors will collect Olympic stamps as an official souvenir of this special event.
Researching Olympic History
Olympic philately has a special place in Olympic research. Stamps, letters, postcards and postal cancellations provide an important insight into people and events, and offer official evidence of events, times and dates. Stamps and the letters attached to them tell fascinating stories of the Olympic Games and the people who participated in them.
Works of Art
Olympic philately as a hobby has a particular bond with the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games. The bond is two-fold: cultural-historical and economic.
Stamps are miniature works of art which communicate, graphically, the Olympic ideal. Significantly, the images and the message they convey are part of mass communication. Olympic stamps appear on millions of letters in hundreds of nations, and travel internationally. They are truly paper ambassadors for the Olympic Movement.
First "Sponsors"
The economic bond was, in fact, the first one with the Olympic Games. In 1895, the decision to issue Olympic stamps made it possible for the Organising Committee to balance its budget and construct the last four venues. Thus, in some way, Olympic stamps were the first "sponsors" of the Olympic Games. Since then, Olympic stamps have contributed to the budget of Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, National Olympic Committees and Olympic events.
Numismatic
Coins are a testimony of time, of a nation’s art and culture.
Coins, like stamps, also tell a story. and this is especially so with Olympic coins. Olympic coins not only mark a significant event in the history of a city and its nation, but also express that nation's pride in its art and culture.
The first official Olympic coins were struck in 1951 to commemorate the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. Today, for each Olympic Games, the Organising Committee, in conjunction with the national mint has a coin-issue programme which can include circulating coins as well as precious metal coins.
While Olympic coins are eagerly sought after by numismitists (coin collectors), the general public also like to collect Olympic coins as an official record of the Olympic Games in their city or nation.
Memorabilia
The Olympic Games generate collectibles shrouded in history and symbolism.
Olympic posterity
With the revival of the Olympic Games, it was only natural and obvious that many collectibles would be left for posterity, as no event can take place without leaving behind such souvenirs. One of the first ones was the menu of a dinner of the International Olympic Committee (Athens 1896).
For collectors’ pleasure
There are two kinds of souvenirs: ones which are intended as souvenirs and ones that are natural by-products of the Games. Both have immediately become collectibles. In the beginning, these items were collected only by the IOC, athletes, officials and some of the spectators. It was only during the late 1920s that some collectors started seriously collecting Olympic memorabilia (all souvenirs with the exception of Olympic stamps and coins).
Auctions and surprises
Collecting Olympic memorabilia is nowadays a very serious matter, connected with auctions, fairs and treasure hunting.
Contribution to Olympic history
Collectors of Olympic memorabilia have made several contributions to complete Olympic history. For example, in their discovery of memorabilia from the non-celebrated Games of 1916, 1940 and 1944.
For the apassionato of Olympism, these items are much more than paper and material and represent the very history of the event, meant to be saved and treasured.
Olympic Collections
See the Olympic collections of past Games by following the links below:
Summer Games
Winter Games