New Act Launches 2028 and 2034 Olympic Commemorative Coin Programs, Funds Games via $50 Collector Surcharges

This bill, officially called the America's Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act, sets up a unique funding mechanism for the upcoming Los Angeles 2028 Summer Games and the Salt Lake City 2034 Winter Games. Essentially, the Treasury Department is authorized to mint and sell special collector coins—$5 Gold, $1 Silver, Half-Dollar Clad, and a heavy Proof Silver $1—to celebrate the events and raise money for the organizing committees. The key point for anyone who collects coins or just likes a good piece of trivia is that these coins are legal tender, but their real value is in the collector market, driven by a mandatory surcharge that goes straight to the Olympic and Paralympic organizers.

The Coin Catalog: What’s in the Vault?

The bill is very specific about what the Treasury can produce. For both the 2028 and 2034 Games, they are authorizing four distinct coins, each with strict limits on production. For example, they can mint up to 100,000 of the $5 Gold coins (weighing about 8.359 grams and 90% pure gold) and up to 500,000 of the $1 Silver coins (26.73 grams, 90% silver). They also greenlight up to 300,000 Half-Dollar Clad coins and a special, heavy collector piece: a 5-ounce, 3-inch wide Proof Silver $1 coin, limited to 100,000 units. The designs must reflect U.S. athlete participation and include all the standard inscriptions like “Liberty” and “In God We Trust.”

The Real Cost: Surcharges Fund the Games

If you decide to buy one of these collector coins, you won't just be paying the cost of the metal and the minting; you’ll be paying a mandatory surcharge that acts as a direct donation to the Games. This is where the funding comes from. The surcharges range from $5 for the clad half-dollar up to a hefty $50 for the 5-ounce Proof Silver $1 coin. All that surcharge money gets funneled to the organizing committees—the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties for 2028 and the Organizing Committee for 2034—to support hosting and legacy programs, like youth sports.

No Net Cost: The Treasury Gets Paid First

Here’s the part that ensures taxpayers aren't footing the bill: The Secretary of the Treasury is explicitly required to make sure this program runs at “no net cost to the Federal Government.” This means the Olympic committees don't see a dime of that surcharge money until the U.S. Treasury has fully recovered every cost associated with designing, minting, marketing, and shipping every single coin. For the government, this is a clean transaction, recovering labor, materials, and overhead first. For the organizing committees, it's a huge, dedicated revenue stream.

The Fine Print for Collectors and Consumers

While this is a great way to fund the Olympics without using taxpayer dollars, there are a couple of points to note. First, the high surcharges mean these coins will be expensive collector items—the $50 surcharge on the top-tier coin is essentially a steep premium for the privilege of contributing to the Games. Second, the bill allows the Secretary to increase the mintage limits if the Olympic Committee provides market research showing higher demand. While this sounds responsive, it gives the organizing committee (the direct financial beneficiary) a lot of influence over how many coins are produced, which could potentially flood the market if not managed carefully. Finally, there's an administrative hurdle: the surcharge can't be added if issuing the coin would push the total number of commemorative coin programs that year past the two-per-year limit set in existing law. It's a small detail, but it could limit how much money the committees can raise if the timing is tight.