The World Money Fair is the largest coin fair globally, featuring over 50 mints, national banks, and more than 150 coin dealers. It has evolved from a collectors' event to a major gathering in numismatics, with numerous side events like the International Media Forum. The founder chronicles its rich history in a commemorative publication.
The author, Albert M. Beck, born in Switzerland on 15.4.1937, studied at the University of Basel economics with the emphasis monetary theory and monetary policy. He taught 33 years at the School of Design in Basel language and literature. In 1969 he founded the international coin trend journal MünzenRevue and later the World Money Fair, the largest coin fair of the world. With the appearance of commemorative coins for the Summer Olympics in Montreal in 1976, he discovered the fascination of Olympic coins. He soon realized the importance of coins as contemporary witnesses and ambassadors of important sport events. In 1993, the former IOC president J.- A. Samaranch, a passionate collector, founded a collector commission with the aim to promote Olympic coins. He appointed the numismatist Albert M. Beck to the IOC Collectors’ Commission, which he belonged for 22 years from 1993 to 2015. The Olympic catalogue is a historical retrospective of Olympic coins issues. It describes and evaluates all official Olympic coins issued by the organizers of Olympiads since 1952 (Helsinki) to 2016 (Rio). The author, who has been promoting Olympic coins for about 40 years by supporting the Olympic coin issues with presentations, press releases and lectures. Texts and images show his experiences and memories in this new Olympic catalogue, which is a valuable reference book by a professional connoisseur of Olympic coins.