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The Olympic Game commemorative coin for the competition that wasn't in the country that is no more.
For the top athletes in the world, this had to be one of the greatest disappointments they ever confronted. After years of training to compete with the best the world had to offer, politics got in the way, and the 1980 Summer Olympic games was boycotted by the western countries.
This US half-dollar sized copper-nickel coin was minted in 1978 to announce the coming 1980 Olympic games to be held in Moscow. The obverse contained the USSR coat of arms, while the reverse contained a representation of the Kremlin and the Olympic logo.
A complete set Olympic coins were released to the public in 1980.
81 nations participated, while the United States and 64 other nations boycotted the games. It was the lowest participation in the games since the 1956 Melbourne games.
36 World records, 39 European records and 74 Olympic records were set.
Olympic marks were improved 241 times; world marks were surpassed 97 times.
The war in Afghanistan continued.
Ann