Athlet badge Athens 1896
Sweden broch Athens 1906
During the years which followed, the uses, manufacture and the varieties mushroomed to evolve to the pin which we know today. Until the end of the 70's, pin trading was mainly restricted to the athletes and to officials. It is at the 1980 Winter Olympics of Lake Placid that pin trading became an activity of the masses. They allowed the spectators to collect small memories and to start their own collections.
Lake Placid 1980 pin
Coke, a major Olympic sponsor for many years, copying Budweiser's idea, set up the international pin trading center at the 1988 Calgary olympic Winter games. Coke's pin trading centers have met with great success in the succeeding olympiads and is a desired stop for Olympic visitors to visit during the games.
Calgary 1988
It is possible to identify the number of badges for the first Olympiads thanks to the official reports or the memory of participants. Unfortunately it is no longer possible because of very large production quantities and many manufacturers. Only the sharing of knowledge by the collectors can contribute to accumulating this information.