Celebrate National Jump Out Day with Coins

“Jump on it!” It’s National Jump Out Day, and we’re going to celebrate this holiday in the style we know best: with a coin! There are few coins that better depict people springing vertically into action than the 1992 Olympic Half Dollar. It showcases a gymnast leaping skyward on the obverse of the coin that pays homage to the XXV Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain.

But before we get into the details around the 1992 Olympic Half Dollar, let’s leap into the history behind National Jump Out Day, which is celebrated on March 20. The day is an opportunity for people to get outside and jump around for recreation. It needn’t be anything elaborate, of course. A jumping jack or two will do. The origins of National Jump Out Day trace their way to World Jump Day, which German artist Torsten Lauschmann created to bring more public focus on climate change. The idea? If everyone around the world jumped in unison, it could move Earth. Even if the science behind that proposition is shaky at best, the idea was nevertheless Earth shattering.

The movement made its way to social media, where untold millions recognize the holiday and its deeper meanings. Over the years, the holiday has taken on more of a physical-health bent. But whether one celebrates by way of performing a jumping jack, jumping a rope, or leaping a vault on the gymnasium floor, the intention is all the same. Get out and make a difference, hopefully both for our climate and our health!

Health is top of mind for Olympic athletes like the nimble gymnast leaping into action on the obverse of the 1992 Olympic Half Dollar. The motif of this unnamed gymnast in motion was designed by William C. Cousins, the same sculptor who revised the famous bust of George Washington on the quarter in time for the debut of the 50 State Quarters program in 1999. The reverse of this coin, featuring the Olympic motto “CITIUS ALTIUS FORTIUS,” which is Latin for “faster, higher, stronger.”

We may not all be able to jump as gracefully as the gymnast on the 1992 Olympic Half Dollar, but may we all always strive to go “faster, higher, and stronger”!