Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 10 Dollars 1984, KM# 211, United States of America (USA), Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics, Olympic Torch Runners
  • 10 Dollars 1984, KM# 211, United States of America (USA), Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics, Olympic Torch Runners
Description

The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, mainly in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the second time that Los Angeles had hosted the Games, the first being in 1932.

The 1984 Games were boycotted by a total of fourteen Eastern Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union and East Germany, in response to the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; Romania and Yugoslavia were the only Socialist European states that opted to attend the Games. Albania, Iran and Libya also chose to boycott the Games for unrelated reasons. Despite the field being depleted in certain sports due to the boycott, 140 National Olympic Committees took part in the 1984 Games, a record number at the time. The United States won the most gold and overall medals, followed by Romania and West Germany.

In 1983 and 1984, the United States Mint issued a series of commemorative coins to commemorate the 1984 Summer Olympic games held in Los Angeles. The 1984 Olympics Commemorative $10 Gold was part of a trio of coin designs to commemorate the 1984 Olympic Games. The other two coins were silver dollars dated 1983 and 1984. Notably, the $10 Gold coin represented the first gold commemorative issued in the United States in more than 50 years.

Obverse

Depicts male and female Olympic torch runners.

The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic torch relay, which formally ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The flame then continues to burn in the cauldron for the duration of the Games, until it is extinguished during the Olympic closing ceremony.

Design: John M. Mercanti
Sketch: James M. Peed

LIBERTY
IN GOD
WE TRUST
LOS ANGELES
1984
JM•JP W
OLYMPIAD XXIII

Reverse

Depicts the Great Seal of the United States featuring a heraldic eagle. The eagle holds an olive branch and bundle of arrows in its talons with thirteen stars above.

The Great Seal is a principal national symbol of the United States. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself, which is kept by the United States Secretary of State, and more generally for the design impressed upon it. The obverse of the Great Seal depicts the national coat of arms of the United States.

Design: John M. Mercanti

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TEN DOLLARS
E PLURIBUS UNUM

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Gold
Fineness 0.900
Weight 16.718 g
Diameter 27 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mints
Denver Mint (D)
Philadelphia Mint (P)
San Francisco Mint (S)
West Point Mint (W)

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