1996 XXVI Olympiad High Jump Commemorative Silver Dollar

The 1996 XXVI Olympiad High Jump Commemorative Silver Dollar was one of sixteen special commemorative coins issued by the United States Mint in 1995 and 1996 to commemorate the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Summer Olympics of Atlanta were unofficially billed as the centennial Olympics owing to the fact that the modern Olympic Games can be traced back to games held in Athens, Greece in 1896. At those games, 14 nations and 241 athletes participated in 43 different events. For comparison, the newer games saw a total of 10,320 athletes from 197 nations compete in 271 different events.

Along with this silver dollar, the United States Mint also issued seven other Olympic Silver Dollars, four different Olympic Clad Half Dollars and four Olympic $5 Gold Coins. With so many commemoratives issued in such a short period of time, demand for the strikes was at record or near record lows.

Silver Dollar Information

The entire series of 1995-1996 XXVI Olympiad Commemorative Coins was authorized by the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 102-390). This Act stipulated a total of sixteen different coins issued in clad, silver and gold.

On the obverse of the High Jump Silver Dollar, an athlete is shown performing the Fosbury Flop technique over the high bar. Included as well is the 1996 USA Olympic Logo and the inscriptions of 1996, USA, IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY. It was designed by Calvin Massey.

The reverse contains the same design as featured on all four of the 1996 Olympic Silver Dollars. It shows the logo from the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games with a torch and flame as well as the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE DOLLAR, ATLANTA, 1996, E PLURIBUS UNUM and CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC GAMES. It also includes the mintmark of ‘P’ or ‘D’ representative of the striking Mint’s of Philadelphia or Denver. The reverse was designed by Thomas D. Rogers.

These coins were struck in both proof and uncirculated conditions. The proof coins were struck at the US Mint’s facility in Philadelphia whereas the uncirculated coins were struck at the US Mint‘s facility in Denver.

1996 XXVI Olympiad High Jump Silver Dollar Coin Specifications