Coins of Austria 100 Schilling Silver Coin 1976 Innsbruck Olympics
Commemorative issue: 1976 Innsbruck Olympics
The games were to be held in Denver, Colorado but after two years of preparation, the city withdrew and Innsbruck was chosen to stage the Games. The Hall Mint, one of the oldest mints in Europe was reopened to strike some of the coins.
Obverse: The Innsbruck Olympic emblem, the legend: “XII Olympische Winterspiele”, stylized snowflakes at the bottom, and the artist’s name below.
Lettering: XII OLYMPISCHE WINTERSPIELE INNSBRUCK 1976 WELZ
Engraver: Ferdinand Welz
Reverse: Ten coats of arms: Republic Eagle of Austria and the arms of the Federal Provinces
Lettering: · REPUBLIK · 100 SCHILLING ÖSTERREICH
Engraver: Edwin Grienauer
Composition: Silver (.640)
Weight 23.93 g
Diameter 36 mm
Thickness 2.5 mm
Shape Round
Innsbruck 1976 Winter Olympics Silver Coins
Austria 100 Schilling 1976 Innsbruck Olympics
The Innsbruck Olympic emblem: The emblem represents the coat of arms of Innsbruck, which shows the bridge on the Inn River that connects the old town and the Hötting district. The bridge and the Olympic rings symbolize the link that ties the many peoples of the world with friendship through the Olympic Games. The top of the coat of arms has two indents which match two of the Olympic rings and represent the 1964 and 1976 Winter Games which Innsbruck celebrates.
1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (French: Les XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) (German: Olympische Winterspiele 1976), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the second time the Tyrolean city hosted the Games, which were awarded to Innsbruck after Denver, the original host city, withdrew in 1972.
The mascot of the 1976 Winter Olympics is a Tyrolean snowman called Schneemann and represents the Games of Simplicity.
As these were the first Olympics held following the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich games, security for the Innsbruck games was much more rigid.
The cities of Denver, Colorado, United States; Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver (with the Garibaldi mountains), Canada, made bids for the Games.
The games were originally awarded to Denver on May 12, 1970, but a 300% rise in costs and worries about environmental impact led to Colorado voters' rejection on November 7, 1972, by a 3 to 2 margin, of a $5 million bond issue to finance the games with public funds.
Denver officially withdrew on November 15, and the IOC then offered the games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they too declined owing to a change of government following elections. Whistler would go on to be associated with neighbouring Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 games.
Salt Lake City, Utah, a 1972 Winter Olympics final candidate who would eventually host in 2002 Winter Olympics, offered itself as a potential host after the withdrawal of Denver. The IOC, still reeling from the Denver rejection, declined and selected Innsbruck, which had hosted the 1964 Winter Olympics games twelve years earlier, on February 4, 1973.
The chart below displays the original vote count for the 69th IOC meeting at Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1970, before the Denver rejection and the installation of Innsbruck, Austria, as alternate host.