Nagano Olympic Commemorative 10,000-Yen Gold Coins | Designs and Specifications of Series 1–3

According to the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), the XVIII Olympic Winter Games (Nagano 1998) were held over 16 days, from 7 to 22 February 1998, with 7 sports and 68 events. The Winter Games have been held in Japan twice: in Sapporo in 1972 and in Nagano. Nagano was chosen as host at the 1991 IOC Session, winning a run-off ballot against Salt Lake City by 46 votes to 42. Its bid theme was "Coexistence with Nature".

Applications to buy the commemorative 10,000-yen gold coins were taken in three rounds. According to the Ministry of Finance's list, the sales application periods were 30 October to 5 November 1996 for the first series, 19 to 28 May 1997 for the second, and 7 to 16 October 1997 for the third. All three closed before the Games began. The coins of the first and second series are dated Heisei 9 and those of the third Heisei 10.

The Japan Mint describes "premium coins" as commemorative coins containing precious metal whose production cost exceeds their face value, sold by the Mint at a price not below the production cost or the face value, and names the Nagano Olympic Winter Games commemorative gold coins as the first premium coins issued in Japan. In the Diet in April 1993, the Director-General of the Ministry of Finance's Financial Bureau likewise said that "premium-type commemorative coins", sold by the government at a price above face value, could legally be issued, but that none had yet been sold.\n\nIn the Ministry of Finance's List of Commemorative Coins, too, the rows for these gold coins are written differently. The face value column gives "10,000 yen" followed by "(sales price) 38,000 yen" (series 1) or "38,737 yen" (series 2 and 3), and the date column gives a "(sales application period)" instead of an exchange start date. The rows for the 5,000-yen silver and 500-yen cupronickel coins of the same Games give only the face value and the exchange start date.

The rows for the three earlier gold coins (60th Year of Reign, Accession and Crown Prince's Wedding) have no sales price.

The Ministry of Finance now describes premium coins as "coins whose production cost exceeds their face value" and states that they are sold by the Mint. The current Act on Currency Units and Issuance of Coins provides that commemorative coins containing precious metal whose production cost exceeds their face value are sold by the Mint, at a price set by Cabinet Order within a range not below the production cost or the face value. These are the current text and guidance; the wording in force in 1996–1998 has not been confirmed.

The obverse designs are ski jumping for the first series, figure skating for the second and speed skating for the third. The reverse of all three is "gentian (the prefectural flower of Nagano)".

According to Nagano Prefecture, the prefectural bird, animal, tree and flower were decided in 1966 (Shōwa 41), together with the prefectural emblem and song. Residents sent in 8,906 postcards, and the gentian was chosen as the prefectural flower with 2,596 votes (buckwheat was second with 2,130). The decision was announced in the prefectural gazette on 8 August 1966. Nagano Prefecture describes the gentian as producing beautiful purple flowers in fairly dry mountains and grasslands.

The reverse of the 5,000-yen silver coin of the same Games shows the prefectural animal, the Japanese serow, and that of the 500-yen cupronickel coin the prefectural bird, the rock ptarmigan, so each denomination carries a different symbol of Nagano Prefecture.

In the Ministry of Finance's list, the gold coins issued before Nagano are three: the 100,000-yen coins for the 60th Year of the Emperor's Reign and the Emperor's Accession, and the 50,000-yen coin for the Crown Prince's Wedding, all marking Imperial occasions. The Nagano coins are the first gold coins to commemorate something other than an Imperial occasion, and also the first 10,000-yen gold coins.

A face value of 10,000 yen falls within the face values the currency law sets for commemorative coins (10,000, 5,000 and 1,000 yen). The 50,000-yen Wedding coin needed a special law because its face value exceeded 10,000 yen, but the Nagano gold coins did not. The Enforcement Order sets the number as "10,000-yen commemorative coins: 165,000", the same as 55,000 for each of the three series.

In the Diet in April 1993, the Director-General said of the Nagano Olympics that, as an international sporting event of national significance, it would naturally come up for consideration in light of precedent, but that it was too early to begin specific consideration.