Collectors Carry Torch For Olympic Memorabilia -- Difficult-To- Find Souvenirs From Games As Good As Gold

NEW YORK - As the world's top athletes go for the gold in Atlanta, thousands of spectators will scout for gold.

Their hopes are set on the commemorative coins, stamps, posters, pins and numerous official items from the Summer Olympic Games.

Memorabilia from past Games have generated big bucks: A gold medal from the '36 Berlin Olympics sold at auction in late April for $6,500; a torch from the '88 Calgary Olympics went for $6,765; even an autographed photo of champion swimmer Mark Spitz from Munich '72 fetched $108.

But collectors warn that the much-hyped '96 Atlanta Olympics won't be a winning investment year. There's just too much stuff out there.

"The numbers are gigantic. Some pins already are being marked down to half price, and the Games haven't even started," said Ingrid O'Neil, an Atlanta dealer specializing in Olympic memorabilia, who also holds several auctions a year.

"If you're looking for lots of collectibles that will increase in value, this is not a good year."

Olympic memorabilia are on sale everywhere, from department stores to Internet sites in cyberspace. And it's not just mass-market licensed souvenirs such as T-shirts, water bottles, athletic bags, posters or Izzy dolls, the tadpole-like Games mascot. Also for sale are 300 million commemorative stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service, 16 sports designs of coins from the U.S. Mint and around 40 million pins from various official Olympic sponsors. About 13,000 Olympic torches are being produced and, of course, there are the millions of tickets and programs.

This summer is especially notable because it's the 100th anniversary of the modern-day Games.

In all, Atlanta Centennial Olympic Properties expects international retail sales to exceed $35 million, more than all previous Olympic Games combined.

Nonetheless, O'Neil advises individuals to hang on to all of this year's collectibles - even programs and tickets.

"Most people throw them away. Not many survive," she said. "They will have some value. They have value right away, but not what you paid for them."

Some items, however, are destined to be worth more down the line. Limited editions - usually 5,000-or-fewer items of something - are in that category.

What could be hot

Darby Coker, spokesman for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, noted that several high-end limited editions are being marketed, including a five-piece, diamond-studded pin collection from Balfour limited to 10 sets, each with a $50,000 price tag.

"There are Faberge eggs (limited to 500) and Waterford crystal," he said.

Those on a tighter budget can choose among countless varieties of pins - perhaps the most popular of all collectibles - for $5 to $6 apiece.

Aminco International Inc. of Irvine, Calif., one of the main official pin makers, has produced several sets in limited supplies. Among them: Olympic holiday pins for Mother's Day, Father's Day, July 4, St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day, about 1,000 to 1,500 per holiday; and "countdown" pins marking the number of days until the start of the Games on July 19.

"We made a mistake on some of the Halloween pins. They said 183 days 'til the Olympics instead of 283 days countdown," said David Hyman, an Aminco executive vice president. "Those will probably be worth money."

The most valuable Aminco Olympic pin: a 14-karat gold-filled MD-11 airplane made for Delta Airlines. Only 70 were produced.

"Pretty souvenirs, unusual items - they have to be official - can be worth money," O'Neil said. "If you can get autographs on tickets from a gold-medal winner, that would be good."

Collectors drool over these

Speaking of medals, if you can get any, that's as good as gold.

Participation medals, which are given to all competing athletes, are probably the easiest to obtain, said Don Bigsby, founder of the Olympin Collectors Club in Schenectady, N.Y.

His personal collection includes 20,000 pins, 17 torches, 500 official badges, tickets and programs and 40 medals.

Although Bigsby said he would never approach an athlete, he has seen some athletes in the seven Olympics he has attended seek out buyers for official items such as uniforms, competition numbers, badges or team pins.

"For some athletes in some countries . . . that can be three months wages," Bigsby said.

Winners' medals are harder to come by. A few from past Olympics have been sold at auction or have ended up in antique shops.

Bigsby said he once paid $11,000 for a winner's medal from the first Olympic Winter Games, in 1924 in Chamonix, France.

Torches can also be hot (pardon the pun). O'Neil says torches in very limited quantities are especially desirable, such as those from the '88 Calgary Winter Games, where only 100 were produced.

Also rare: official badges from 1896, participation medals from 1904 and certain pins, including ones showing the Brandenburg Gate from 1936 Berlin Summer Games and an ABC (television) pin from 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games.

One rule of thumb for the investment-minded: If you can't buy it in retail stores, it might be worth something in years to come.

But Bigsby cautions most individuals to buy for enjoyment, not just to make money in the future.

"For me, it's making connections, networking, building up friendships all over the world," he said.

For Judy Dupler of Indianapolis, it was three weeks use of a house in Lillehammer, Norway, during the 1994 Winter Olympics. Dupler said she traded 15,000 Olympic pins from her personal collection for the house. She said it would have cost her about $10,000 to rent.

What's hot in Olympic memorabilia

Here's a look at what some Olympic memorabilia sold for recently, according to Atlanta auctioneer Ingrid O'Neil:

-- Official torch, '88 Winter Olympics, Calgary, Canada, $6,765.

-- Gold medal '36 Summer Olympics, Berlin, $6,500.

-- Bronze medal '28 Winter Olympics, St. Moritz, Switzerland, $4,400.

-- Official poster '48 Summer Olympics, $2,100.

-- Participation medal 1886 First Olympic Games in Athens, $1,050.

-- Travel brochure '40 Summer Olympics, Tokyo (canceled), $363.

-- Alpine skiing starting number, '76 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria, $330.

-- Silver coin from ancient Greece, depicting two wrestlers, $250.

-- Set of Secret Service, Interpol and CIA pins, '84 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles, $220.

-- Autographed Swedish gymnastic team member card, '36 Berlin Olympics, $200.

-- British pentathlon team pin, '52 Summer Olympics, Helsinki, Finland, $200.

-- Autographed black-and-white photo of Mark Spitz, U.S. gold-medal swimmer, $108.

-- Postcard of Red McCarthy, U.S. hockey team silver medalist from 1924 First Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France, $80.

-- Opening Ceremony ticket, '60 Summer Olympics, Rome, $40.

-- Closing Ceremony program, '94 Winter Olympics, Lillehammer, Norway, $25.