Volume 28 Issue 2 TORCH BEARER 1924 1896 1928 1900 1932 1904 1936 1908 1940 1912 1944 • • 26 $ 2011 ••• 1916 1948 1920 1952 1924 1956 1928 1960 1932 1964 1936 1968 1940 1972 1944 1976 1948 1980 1952 1984 1956 1988 1960 1992 1964 1994 1968 1998 1972 2002 1976 2006 1980 2010 1984 2014 1988 2018 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 SOCIETY of OLYMPIC COLLECTORS SOCIETY of OLYMPIC COLLECTORS The representative of F.I.P.O. in Great Britain YOUR COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN Bob Farley, 3 Wain Green, Long Meadow, AND EDITOR : Worcester, W R4 OHP, Great Britain. [email protected] VICE CHAIRMAN : Bob Wilcock, 24 Hamilton Crescent, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 5 ES, Great Britain. bob©towlard.freeserve.co.uk SECRETARY : Miss Paula Burger, 19 Hanbury Path, Sheerwater, Woking, Surrey, GU21 5RB Great Britain. TREASURER AND David Buxton, 88 Bucknell Road, Bicester, ADVERTISING : Oxon, OX26 2DR, Great Britain. david.buxton©ukf.net AUCTION MANAGER : John Crowther, 3 Hill Drive, Handforth, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 3AP, Great Britain. olcrow3©btinternet.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER, Ken Cook, 31 Thorn Lane, Rainham, Essex, BACK ISSUES and RM13 9SJ, Great Britain. LIBRARIAN : cook_b5©sky.com PACKET MANAGER Brian Hammond, 6 Lanark Road, Ipswich, IP4 3EH brian-hammond1©sky.com WEB MANAGER Mike Pagnomenos ad min©societyofolympiccollectors.org P. R. 0. _ Andy Potter [email protected] BACK ISSUES: At present, most issues of TORCH BEARER are still available to Volume 1, Issue 1, (March 1984), although some are now exhausted. As stocks of each issue run out, they will not be reprinted. It is Society policy to ensure that new members will be able to purchase back issues for a four year period, but we do not guarantee stocks for longer than this. Back issues cost £2.00 each, or £8.00 for a year's issues to Volume 24, and £2.50 per issue, from Volume 25 except Vol.25 issue 4b which is £4.00 and Volume 27 Issue 1 which is £6.00, including postage by surface mail. If ordering single copies, please indicate which volume you require. Cheques should be made payable to the SOCIETY of OLYMPIC COLLECTORS and sent with your order to David Buxton at the above address. If you wish to receive back issues by airmail, please add 90 pence per issue (£3.60 per volume). LIBRARY: Photocopies of articles are availble through the Librarian at 10 pence per sheet. Please enclose payment with the order. Books may be borrowed, but postage must be paid IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. The Librarian's address is listed above. COPY DATES: TORCH BEARER is published four times a year; in March, June, September and December. Articles or adverts for inclusion in a particular issue should be sent at least two months in advance. TORCH BEARER ISSN 0954-2183 VOLUME 28 JUNE 2011 ISSUE 2 CONTENTS Front Page 50 Mystery Olympic Gymnast? 51 London 2012 - Coin exchange? 52 London 2012 Torch Relay 53 London 2012 - Olympic and Paralympic Issue III 54 1st Modem Olympic Games Athens 1896 __Winner and Participation Medals, and Their Boxes 55 STOP PRESS London 2012 - Olympic issues 63 The promotional cachet for the 1912 Olympic Games 64 Portugal nos Jogos Olimpicos 1912-2008 68 SOCHI 2014 Philatelic programme 72 Olympic Bid Pins 74 The future of F.I.P.O. 81 Annecy, Olympic Candidate 2018 89 Beijing Torch Relay - A local item 92 Society of Olympic Collectors - An important survey 93 London 2012, 'Coin cover' handstamps 94 Please remember the Society Auction and International Packet when disposing of surplus or duplicate material - both give you direct access to fellow collectors interested in the Olympic theme. Contact the service managers, John and Brian as detailed inside the front cover. FRONT PAGE London 2012 is now appears to be approaching very fast. Ticket applications, torch relay details and the unveiling of the design of the London 2012 torch have taken place. UK ticket allocations are due shortly, and test events begin very soon. The London 2012 Olympic Game will soon be upon us, and SOC / Torch Bearer will continue to try and provide details of the philatelic and collectible items. The workload in producing the limited number of philatelic souvenirs that it is viable for us to produce will continue to increase, and it is likely that we will need further assistance as the Games approach, and during the Games period. We have had previous assistance, and a few volunteers that we have not yet called upon - all of these should expect to receive requests for assistance in the near future. We would be very pleased to hear from any member in the London area who may be able to help by preparing covers or taking covers to post offices at the time of the Olympic Games. Please contact Bob Farley or Bob Wilcock. The F.I.P.O. logo has appeared on Torch Bearer for many years, and it signifies that the S.O.C. is the recognised representative of F.I.P.O. in the U.K. Like most F.I.P.O. representatives the S.O.C. membership is actually international. The existence of F.I.P.O. is currently under review, and it will either evolve into a new organisation or cease to exist. Details of the process are provided on page 81. Please take the time to read the letter and initial report. The outcome of this process will certainly impact on the relationship between the S.O.C., and other existing F.I.P.O. members with the I.O.C. View are being sought from all societies (and their members) by 31st August, 2011. To enable the S.O.C. to submit a consensus response, could I please ask that any member with a view or comment please submit to me by 20th August either by mail or email. Bob Farley Our efforts to strengthen the committee of the society, have finally borne results. We have co- opted Jonathan Rosenthall onto the committee. Jonathan's interest is primarily in athletics memorabilia, and we want to exploit his expertise. On page 93, you will find a brief survey / questionnaire. Please complete this so that we can better understand your collecting interests. Even the most hardened of philatelists tend to accumulate related items. It would be helpful to know the kind of material we all amass. Apologies for so many pages devoted to procedural matters - but it does offer the opportunity to mail back responses in only one envelope. 50 Mystery Olympic Gymnast? Mystery Gymnast! 1ST. VINCENT THE GRENADINES In 1995 a sheetlet of 8 stamps was issued by St. Vincent & the Grenadines. One stamp (SG2994) shows a gymnast named as "Mitsuoki Watanabe, Japan" working on the pommel horse. However, no gymnast of that name is listed in IOC records, or on Wikipedia, so the question is, what is the real name of the gymnast being commemorated? No Japanese gymnast has won pommel horse gold. There are several silver and bronze medallists between 1956 and 1976, but none of the names are remotely like Mitsuoki Watanabe. One of the most famous Japanese gymnasts is Mitsuo Tsukahara who won 5 Gold Medals at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. '., A I JAPAr- He has a vault named after him, but never had success on the pommel horse. Perhaps someone completely mis-translated Japanese characters. Can anyone say who the stamp is supposed to be commemorating? Bob Wilcock MEMBERSHIP OF THE SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC COLLECTORS Membership starts on election, of which applicants will be notified, and will last for one calendar year. All back issues of the magazine for the current year will be sent to members joining during the year. Junior members are those aged under 18 years in the year of joining, subscription rates are half of the adult rate until the 18th birthday. All applications should be made to the Secretary. Subscription rates for 2011 are: U.K. £14.00; Europe, £17.00 (€ 24, $US 35). Outside Europe, £19.00 (€ 27, $US 39, $AU 42) Acceptable forms of payment: Sterling, $US, $Australian or € currency notes; Sterling cheques; PayPal - in £ sterling. 51 London 2012 - Coin exchange? The London 2012 coin programme is now well underway with 50 pence pieces dated 2010, 2011 and 2012 entering or due to enter circulation, as the examples illustrated. The full series is available in uncirculated condition on collector card, but at a significant premium. A number of overseas members have asked for assistance in obtaining copies of individual designs that reflect their collecting theme, and other are seeking full set of the designs, but in fine circulated condition. Attempts to order coins from Banks and Post Offices have failed as they generally cannot specify designs when placing orders, and it is likely that the designs will appear in localised areas 'as and when' a Bank receives a consignment. The 50 pence pieces offer an opportunity to obtain a London 2012 souvenir collection at face value, without the risk of future reduction in market value - ideal for mementoes for children and grandchildren. The 50 pence pieces also present an opportunity to complement the SOC souvenir covers using the 'coin cover' cancels with the coin to which they relate. If you would be interested in taking part in an exchange programme to try and maximise the opportunity to create sets, or assist those seeking specific designs, please contact Bob Farley, either by email or mail initially. [email protected], or 3 Wain Green, Long Meadow, Worcester, W R4 01-IP If there are a number of interested members, we will try to operate a 'face value' plus postage exchange programme.