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 Lot of 3 Soviet Pins Badges pin badge OLYMPIC MISHA BEAR $4.99 Time Remaining: 3d 28m Buy It Now for only: $4.99 |
 Vintage Soviet Union Olympic Pin $22.00 Time Remaining: 44m Buy It Now for only: $25.00 |
 2012 FULL COLOR PHOTO MITT ROMNEY OLYMPIC MOTIF CAMPAIGN PIN $3.50 Time Remaining: 1d 4h 7m Buy It Now for only: $3.50 |
 SOLID GOLD 1980 USSR Moscow Olympics Collectable OLYMPICS EMBLEM Pin Badge $199.99 Time Remaining: 2d 1h 15m Buy It Now for only: $199.99 |
 VINTAGE RUSSIAN USSR SET OF THREE PIN BADGEOLYMPIC GAME MOSCOW 80 $10.00 Time Remaining: 7d 20h 43m Buy It Now for only: $10.00 |
 VINTAGE RUSSIAN USSR OLYMPIC GAMES MOSCOW 1980 ENAMEL PIN BADGE $9.00 Time Remaining: 6d 2h 35m Buy It Now for only: $9.00 |
 VINTAGE RUSSIAN USSR OLYMPIC GAME MOSCOW 1980 PIN BADGEMISHA BEAR $15.00 Time Remaining: 6d 2h 31m Buy It Now for only: $15.00 |
 3 Vintage USSR Moscow Olympic Game MISHA MASCOT Collectible Pin Badges $10.00 Time Remaining: 26d 15h 38m Buy It Now for only: $10.00 |
 Lot of 265 Vintage Russian Pins Olympic Political Ect $299.99 Time Remaining: 11d 2h 4m Buy It Now for only: $299.99 |
 VINTAGE RUSSIAN OLYMPIC GAMES MOSCOW 1980 LARGE RARE ENAMEL PIN BADGE $50.00 Time Remaining: 6d 2h 37m Buy It Now for only: $50.00 |
 VINTAGE RUSSIAN USSR OLYMPIC GAME MOSCOW 1980 PIN BADGEMISHA BEAR $15.00 Time Remaining: 6d 2h 29m Buy It Now for only: $15.00 |
 SET 7 SOVIET PINS OLYMPIC BEAR MISHA $9.00 Time Remaining: 25d 44m Buy It Now for only: $9.00 |
 SET 7 SOVIET PINS OLYMPIC BEAR MISHA 2 $9.00 Time Remaining: 25d 46m Buy It Now for only: $9.00 |
 VINTAGE RUSSIAN USSR OLYMPIC GAMES MOSCOW 1980 RARE ENAMEL PIN BADGE $25.00 Time Remaining: 6d 2h 33m Buy It Now for only: $25.00 |
 58 Vintage USSR pin badge OLYMPIC GAMES 1980 $19.99 Time Remaining: 4d 22h 22m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 VINTAGE RUSSIAN OLYMPIC GAMES MOSCOW 1980 LARGE RARE ENAMEL PIN BADGE 251 $39.99 Time Remaining: 17d 17h 32m Buy It Now for only: $39.99 |
 USSR Pin BADGE 1980s Soviet Union VINTAGE OLYMPIC RARE $1.00 Time Remaining: 23d 22h 24m Buy It Now for only: $1.00 |
 USSR Pin BADGE 1980s Soviet Union VINTAGE OLYMPIC RARE $1.00 Time Remaining: 23d 22h 24m Buy It Now for only: $1.00 |
 OLYMPIC Pin BADGE USSR Soviet Union VINTAGE $2.90 Time Remaining: 25d 22m Buy It Now for only: $2.90 |
 OLYMPIC BEARMETAL Pin BADGE USSR Soviet Union VINTAGE $2.90 Time Remaining: 25d 22m Buy It Now for only: $2.90 |
 OLYMPIC BEAR USSR Pin BADGE 1980 Soviet Union VINTAGE $2.46 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 26m Buy It Now for only: $2.46 |
Custom Trading Pins: Small Pins Convey Great Meaning
Custom trading pins are a sports tradition with a long, distinguished history. From the Olympics to youth sports, they have become icons for the young and the old. Deemed "the Number One Spectator Sport of the Olympic Games," custom trading pins help bring people together in fellowship worldwide.
Custom trading pins are a vast part of youth sports, and nowhere more so than in youth baseball. Thousands of Little League players swap custom trading pins by the millions each year. By the time the Little League World Series rolls around every August, trading pin frenzy grips the home city, South Williamsport, Pa.
The craze for custom trading pins in Little League has really taken off over the past three decades. The Little League Baseball organization introduced its first official custom trading pins in the early 1980s, and the trend kicked into high gear. Since then, it has grown every year.
The roots of today's custom trading pins date back more than a century to the first modern Olympic Games held in 1896. At that event, athletes and officials wore pins to identify themselves. A decade later, Swedish athletes introduced the forerunner of custom trading pins as we know them today, in their national colors of blue and yellow.
Before long, athletes were swapping custom trading pins among themselves as symbols of friendship. The pins' unique affiliation with the Games and distinctive artwork made them attractive keepsakes, while their small size made custom trading pins easy to trade.
Since spectators discovered the fun of custom trading pins in 1980, the popularity of trading pins at the Olympic Games has grown ever bigger. According to one news magazine, more than 3 million pins were traded at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. Custom trading pins took on political meaning at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. Many Chinese traders rejected the official Chinese pins, choosing to collect custom trading pins from American and Taiwanese delegations instead.
As the popularity of custom trading pins has increased, corporations such as Coca-Cola have gotten involved in pin trading as well. In 1988, Coke created its first Official Olympic Pin Trading Center for the Winter Olympics in Calgary. The pin center drew more than 17,000 visitors a day, the company noted on its website.
Four years later, the response was even greater. In Barcelona in 1992, more than half a million people, representing 70 countries, trekked through Coke's center for custom trading pins. Coke's celebrated the trading pin center on its website, where the company declared custom trading pins "cultural currency – sparking trades, creating personal connections and breaking down barriers among people of different backgrounds, languages and customs."
Whether trading Olympic pins or baseball custom trading pins, the going rate for pins starts at one-for-one. But the more rare or unique a pin is, the greater the "exchange rate" it trades for. Some especially valued custom trading pins can even command a premium of 10 lesser pins.
The popularity of custom trading pins continues to grow in many respects. Last year's Commonwealth Games in India were an example, with spectators scrambling for pins toward the end of the Games. Custom trading pins are likely to remain popular keepsake items for the foreseeable future.
About the Author
Lapel Pin SuperStore is the premier provider of custom trading pin in the United States. We serve all custom trading pin and other custom lapel pin needs, from employee recognition to ribbon awareness pins.
Olympic Pins