Celebrating the 1994 XV FIFA World Cup Soccer Playoff Games
In 1994, Congress passed legislation that would celebrate the XV FIFA World Cup Soccer playoff games that were hosted by the United States in 9 separate soccer venues across the country. These games would determine which men’s team would ultimately become the World Cup champions.
As was typical of most commemorative coin legislation, Congress authorized a series of three related coins: a clad Half Dollar, a Silver Dollar and a Five Dollar Gold coin.
The clad Half Dollar was issued and struck in both Uncirculated and Proof versions. The obverse of the coin depicts a male soccer player running down the field with the ball at his feet. The obverse design was fairly simple with that runner with the soccer ball, behind him in large numerals was the year “1994” and above the date was the word “LIBERTY” and below the date was the phrase “IN GOD WE TRUST.” The obverse was designed by Richard T. La Roche.
The reverse of the clad Half Dollar featured the official logo of the World Cup with “WORLD CUP USA 94” above it and there was a laurel branch on both sides of the logo. Below the logo was “E PLURIBUS UNUM” and the upper periphery had “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” while the lower periphery had the denomination “HALF DOLLAR.” The reverse was designed by Dean McMullen.
The Uncirculated version was struck at the Denver Mint and bears a “D” mintmark on the reverse of the coin.
The Proof version was struck at the Philadelphia Mint and bears a “P” mintmark. Although up to five million clad Half Dollars were authorized, less than one million coins were struck in both versions of the clad Half Dollar.
The second coin that was issued was a Silver Dollar, which again was struck in both Uncirculated and Proof versions. The design on the obverse of the Silver Dollar had two opposing players, facing one another, both fighting for possession of the call. The rest of the design has the word “LIBERTY” in large letters, with five-pointed stars between each letter. To the lower right is the date “1994” and the lower periphery as “IN GOD WE TRUST.” This obverse was also designed by Dean McMullen
The reverse uses the exact same design on the Silver Dollar as it did on the Clad Half Dollar, except, of course, for the denomination. In fact, even the five-dollar gold coin used that same design on its reverse as well. This is the first time the US Mint ever used a common design across multiple denominations of coins.
While the Uncirculated Clad Half Dollar and the Uncirculated Silver Dollar were both struck at the Denver Mint, the Proof Silver Dollar was struck at the San Francisco Mint and has an “S” mintmark.
The final of the three coins struck was the Five Dollar Gold Coin. Unlike the smaller denominations, the obverse had the World Cup trophy as the central device as opposed to players trying to control a soccer ball.
The Trophy design was created by William Krawczewicz and the trophy is referred to as “The Trophy Preserved in Gold.” The trophy is in the center with “LIBERTY” to the left, and “IN GOD WE TRUST” to the right. Under the trophy is the date “1994.”
The reverse again used Den Mc Mullen’s World Cup logo design. Again the only change is on the lower periphery with the new denomination “FIVE DOLLARS”.
Both the Uncirculated and Proof versions of the Five Dollar Gold coins were struck at the West Point Minting facility and bear a “W” mintmark. The six versions of these three coins (Proof and Uncirculated) were sold individually, in Uncirculated sets, in Proof sets, and in complete six-coin sets. The authorized mintage of the Five Dollar gold coins was 750,000 but just over 110,000 coins were struck and sold.
Additionally, the Proof Silver Dollars were sold in Prestige Proof sets as well as combined with other minor coins that were not part of the modern commemorative coin series, to entice collectors.
| Date | Mintmark | Denomination | Type | Mintage | Value |
| 1994 | D | Clad Half Dollar | Uncirculated | 168,208 | $20 |
| 1994 | P | Clad Half Dollar | Proof | 609,354 | $20 |
| 1994 | D | Silver Dollar | Uncirculated | 81,524 | $50 |
| 1994 | S | Silver Dollar | Proof | 577,090 | $50 |
| 1994 | W | Five Dollar Gold | Uncirculated | 22,447 | $550 |
| 1994 | W | Five Dollar Gold | Proof | 89,614 | $550 |
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