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Pan American Games in San Juan Puerto Rico Official Medal
by the United States Olympic Committee
1979 Proof Silver Medal 49mm (60.00 grams) 0.999 Fine Silver
Designed by Don Lorenzo Homar of the Hispamer mint
Mintage: 50,000 (Exclusively issued to American Express card members)
VIII JUEGOS PANAMERICANOS, Athlete with Olympic torch running left.
SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO 1979 around Olympic torch.
EDGE LETTERING: .999 FINE SILVER
THE LARGEST MEDAL THAT WAS ISSUED
By one of Central America’s most renowned artists – Don Lorenzo Homar. A gymnast in his youth, and a great sports enthusiast, he has given his designs all his strength, simplicity and dramatic action for which his work is widely sought after by art collectors.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: Juegos Panamericanos de 1979), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15, 1979. The 1980 documentary film A Step Away showcased a number of athletes competing in the Games. On May 31, 1973, San Juan was the only candidate city to be a finalist to host the games and thus, San Juan was then selected to host the VIII Pan American Games by PASO at its general assembly in Santiago, Chile.
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held among athletes from nations of the Americas, every four years in the year before the Summer Olympic Games. It is the second oldest continental games in the world. The only Winter Pan American Games were held in 1990. In 2021, the Junior Pan American Games was held for the first time specifically for young athletes. The Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) is the governing body of the Pan American Games movement, whose structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter. 2023 Pan American Games starts from 20th October to 5th November.[6]
The XVIII Pan American Games were held in Lima from 26 July to 11 August 2019; the XIX Pan American Games will be held in Santiago from 20 October to 5 November 2023. Since the XV Pan American Games in 2007, host cities are contracted to manage both the Pan American and the Parapan American Games,[5] in which athletes with physical disabilities compete with one another. The Parapan American Games are held immediately following the Pan American Games.
The Pan American Games Movement consists of international sports federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that are recognized by PASO, and organizing committees for each specific Pan American Games. As the decision-making body, PASO is responsible for choosing the host city for each Pan American Games. The host city is responsible for organizing and funding a celebration of the Games consistent with the Olympic Charter (since PASO is affiliated with the IOC, the Olympic Charter) and rules. The Pan American Games program, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games, is determined by PASO. The celebration of the Games encompasses many rituals and symbols, such as the flag and torch, and the opening and closing ceremonies. Over 5,000 athletes compete at the Pan American Games in 36 sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively.
 Lorenzo Homar Gelabert (September 10, 1913 �” February 16, 2004) was a Puerto Rican printmaker, painter, and calligrapher whose artwork stretches to three main workshops: Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño (CPA), DIVEDCO (División de Educación a la Comunidad), and the Taller de Artes Gráficas of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP). Homar was also the designer of the logo of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (Institute of Puerto Rican Culture).
Lorenzo Homar was born in 1913 in Barrio Puerta de Tierra in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His father, Lorenzo Homar Sr., was a film promoter and his mother, Margarita Gelabert, a pianist. Although he attended grammar school in San Juan, in 1928 due to financial difficulties, his family is forced to move to New York City. Because of the financial situation of his family, Homar did not finish his high school education and went to work in a textile factory. In 1931, he attended New York’s Art Students League where he learned the art of drawing under the guidance of George Bridgman.
Homar joined the House of Cartier in 1936 in New York as an apprentice designer of jewelry. During this period of his life he studied engraving, drawing and history of design. Furthermore, the income from his position at Cartier allowed Homar to take night classes in painting, design and typography at Pratt Institute.
When the United States entered World War II, Homar joined the Army. He participated in the Pacific Campaign and was wounded in the Philippines for which he received the Purple Heart Medal. Homar then served in an Army Intelligence Unit where he learned cartography while working for the Second Amphibious Combat Engineers Brigade. He also published military sketches in numerous American journals. When he returned from the war, he enrolled in the School of the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1946. While there, he was able to meet and learn from such artists as Ben Shahn, Rufino Tamayo and Gabor Peterdi.
Homar returned to Puerto Rico in 1950, where together with other artists, such as Rafael Tufiño, Felix Rodriguez Baez, Julio Rosado del Valle and René Marqués, he co-founded the “Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño” (Puerto Rican Arts Center, or CAP). He was later named the director of the Graphics Studio of the Graphic Art Division of Puerto Rico’s Department of Community Education (DivEdCo). This is when he created most of his works of art. Homar designed the logo of the “Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña ” (Institute of Puerto Rican Culture) known as the ICP, and he also established the Institute’s Graphic Arts Workshop. During the decade of the 1960s Homar began use the techniques of graphic printmaking, particularly in silkscreen. In 1975, he established his own printing studio, and among his many works are the posters he designed in 1979, for the VIII Pan American Games.
Homar’s works were exhibited in the Ponce Museum of Art in 1979. The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased some of his works. The University of Puerto Rico proclaimed him a Doctorate “Honoris Causa” and the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture presented him with the National Medal of Honor in 2003.
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