I hope that you are finding the information on our webpage useful. I cannot believe that the Sochi Games are halfway over. We have been very busy.

We currently have 189 images of NOC pins that are either new or in use in Sochi. 131 of these pins are dated and the other 58 are generic. 127 of these pins have been either verified authentic by the NOCs or are previously authenticated generic pins. 17 pins are rated Questionable or worse and 45 pins are still awaiting verification.

Something new is that we have begun to add NGB (National Governing Body) pins. These are pins produced by the sports organizations within a country like the United States Luge Association or the Canadian Curling Association. There are images of 14 of these NGB pins, but the number is expected to grow rapidly. We are adding these pins because it is sometimes difficult to differentiate them from normal NOC team pins. For example, all of the Canadian NGB pins we’ve seen so far have the Canadian Olympic Committee logo. Please note that it is more difficult to authenticate these pins because the NOC often does not know which of their NGBs is producing pins. To a large degree, we have to go by whether a NGB pin was traded in Sochi by a participant in that sport. This is a work in progress and we will let you know more as time goes on.

For now, enjoy the remainder of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games and stay tuned.

Steve

Our efforts to acquire images of legitimate pins prior to the start of the Games is paying off. As of this morning, we have pictures of 139 NOC pins that are either new or in use in Sochi. 101 of those pins are dated and 38 are generic. 106 are verified authentic and 7 have been repudiated by the NOCs. Here are the unauthorized pins:

New pins are appearing nearly every hour and it will be some time before our authentication process begins to catch up. Our recommendation is that collectors concentrate on the authenticated pins first and give us some additional time to get feedback on the ones that are currently in the Not Yet Rated category. Please check our Authenticity Project website frequently as we are updating ratings and adding new pins constantly. If you happen to see a pin that we don’t have listed, please email us an image at Illegal_Pin_Comm@comcast.net and we will post the picture and attempt to authenticate it.

Until later, enjoy the Games and, as always, stay tuned.

Steve

The Opening Ceremonies of the XXII Olympic Winter Games are underway in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia. But through the miracle of television, we won’t be seeing it here on the west coast of the United States for another 10 hours or so. Since I have some time to kill, I thought that I would update everyone on where the Authenticity Project stands as we head into the Olympics.

Our efforts to acquire images of legitimate pins prior to the start of the Games is paying off. As of this morning, we have pictures of 139 NOC pins that are either new or in use in Sochi. 101 of those pins are dated and 38 are generic. 106 are verified authentic and 7 have been repudiated by the NOCs. Here are the unauthorized pins:

New pins are appearing nearly every hour and it will be some time before our authentication process begins to catch up. Our recommendation is that collectors concentrate on the authenticated pins first and give us some additional time to get feedback on the ones that are currently in the Not Yet Rated category. Please check our Authenticity Project website frequently as we are updating ratings and adding new pins constantly. If you happen to see a pin that we don’t have listed, please email us an image at Illegal_Pin_Comm@comcast.net and we will post the picture and attempt to authenticate it.

Until later, enjoy the Games and, as always, stay tuned.

Steve

We are now less than two weeks from the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Teams from 88 countries have been selected and are beginning to make their way toward this resort on the Black Sea.

Most teams have received or are about to receive their Sochi pins, and these are starting to find their way into circulation. However, this is also when the fraudsters start putting their pins into circulation as well. For a NOC pin collector, this is a dangerous time. Little to nothing is known about the authenticity of the pins that are becoming available and it is the natural tendency of collectors to grab first and wonder about authenticity second. This is exactly what the producers of unauthorized NOC pins want you to do.

This is also a difficult time for our committee. The NOCs are at their absolute busiest in their preparations for the Sochi Olympics. Many committee members are already moving into the two Olympic Villages in preparation for the arrival of their teams. So it is nearly impossible to get feedback on the authenticity of the pins that are appearing unless members of our committee received pins directly from the NOC. Here is an example. Last week, this pin began to appear on eBay:

While this is not an indictment, the seller of this pin has been known to sell pins that later turned out to be unauthorized. Strike one. In addition, we have received three different dated Sochi Olympic pins directly from the Canadian Olympic Committee and this was not one of them. Strike two. We also know that this pin is based on authentic COC design from the mid-1990s. It is common for fraudsters to use old pin designs as a base because it is easier to copy a design than to design a new pin. Unfortunately, repeated emails to the COC asking whether they have authorized this pin have gone unanswered. As a result, the rating on this pin is still “Not yet rated”. This is extremely frustrating to us. However, we started this project with the goal of producing ratings that were not based on hearsay, but that were as objective as possible. So, “Not yet rated” this pin will stay, at least until we receive additional feedback.

So what is a collector to do? Thanks to the NOCs that have responded to us directly and through the help of NOC pin producer Kingdom Pins (note: Committee member Daniel Beniston is Managing Director of Kingdom Pins), our website now has images of more than 20 authentic Sochi-dated NOC pins and that number increases to more than 50 if the retail pins from the United States, Canada and Japan are included. More are being added nearly every day. Our advice is to go after the authenticated NOC pins first and treat all not rated pins as if they may be unauthorized. We will continue to work on obtaining feedback for all pins without ratings so check back often. And if you happen to see a pin that is not yet listed, by all means send the image to: Illegal_Pin_Comm@comcast.net and we will begin the authentication process.

Until next time, stay tuned.

Steve