SUPER BOWL TOSS COINS & MEDALS

Super Bowl Toss Coins & Medals

With the Super Bowl being the most watched event on the American sports calendar, it's no surprise that connections to nearly all walks of life, including numismatics, come to the fore. Super Bowl medals were apparently first produced by MintAmerica in North Miami, Florida, beginning in 1973. A Coin World ad (August 22, 1973) notes "the National Football League for the first time has authorized the Official Super Bowl Medals….." These pieces were 50mm silver proofs.

Coin World reported on February 7, 1973, that a Franklin Mint-produced piece featuring Vince Lombardi was used as the toss coin for Super Bowl VII. The February 14, 1979 edition of Coin World noted that Chicago Bears owner George Halas donated a 1920 double eagle (commemorating the birth year of the NFL) as the Super Bowl toss coin. Halas announced the loser of the toss would receive the coin, which went to the Pittsburgh Steelers' Jack Lambert following the toss ceremony. The Steelers ended up winning both the game and the coin.

The toss coin is currently manufactured by the Highland Mint in Melbourne, Florida. Ten thousand examples are produced, with coin #1 being used for the opening coin toss and coin #0 in case of overtime. The Highland Mint has been producing the Super Bowl coins since the mid-1990s. The Danbury Mint in Norwalk, Connecticut also sells officially licensed Super Bowl "flip coins," which are marketed as "commemoratives." A set of 50 such pieces is currently listed on eBay, by a secondary seller, at $800.

Link to Super Bowl XIII coin toss video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9ceVwCdLU0#t=5m53s

Link to New York Times coverage of the Super Bowl XIII coin toss:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6100532/2025/02/03/super-bowl-coin-toss-bet-odds/

Link to CBS coverage of the Highland Mint:
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/coin-that-kicks-off-super-bowl-is-made-in-florida/

Link to "Super Bowl" search results on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/searchwithterms?searchterm=Super%20bowl

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web