The honoree who performed the toss at the 1984 game between the Washington Redskins and LA Raiders was football pioneer Bronislau “Bronko” Nagurski. In the NFL’s fledgling days Nagurski was about as close of a Babe Ruth character as football had. He first burst onto the scene as an All-American at the University of Minnesota. Legend had it that Bronko was discovered by U of M head coach Clarence Spears when he got lost on a scouting trip to rural Minnesota. Stopping to ask a big farm boy plowing a field for directions the burly teen picked up his plow and used it to point the way. At Minnesota Bronko’s dexterity combined with what was in that era superhuman size made him the most famous college athlete of the late 1920’s. At a time most college football players gave up the sport after graduation Nagurski bucked the norm and entered the hard-scrabble world of the early NFL. Nagurski played seven seasons leading the Chicago Bears to two championships and establishing himself as pro football’s first big star. So it was only natural that a 77 year-old Bronko Nagurski would be the man to perform the coin toss for Super Bowl XVIII.

The coin used that day was a ten dollar gold coin specially minted to celebrate that summer’s upcoming Olympic Games in Las Angeles. The obverse features a male and female runner passing the Olympic torch with “Los Angeles” “1984” and Olympiad XXIII” inscribed. The reverse carries the American eagle and thirteen stars with “United States of America Ten Dollars” inscribed around the perimeter. Composed of 90% gold and 10% copper the elegant coin measures 27mm in diameter and weighs 18 grams. It comes housed in a burgundy velvet presentation case embossed with silver metallic American eagle. Inside is the logo for the ‘84 L.A. Games with red white and blue ribbon. The case is enclosed in a burgundy cardboard box with the American Eagle and “United States Silver & Gold” stamped in gold on the outside. The coin is in superb condition as is the velvet case. The box shows wear from storage and age with the corners loose and some edge scuffing.

The coin comes with a 10/16/1984 signed letter of authenticity from Danielle Freda of the Olympic Commemorative Coin Program attesting to it being used by Bronko Nagurski in the Super Bowl coin toss. The letter was written to the Bloomingdales PR department who auctioned this special coin off as part of a company promotional campaign.