10,000 and counting! Pin collector chases Olympic metal

Anthony Quintano / NBC News

Daniel Presburger, center, with his two kids at the London Olympics.

Forget trying to come home with a medal in London. According to pin collector Daniel Presburger, the real way to win at the Games is to score some Olympic metal.  

The London Olympics mark Presburger’s 12th games, and when the Los Angeles-based teacher isn't schooling his students on computers and history, he’s busy working on building and trading his pin collection.

“I have about 10,000 pins in my collection, and about 50,000 I could use as traders,'' he told TODAY.com.

Presburger has been spending his time at the London Olympics showing off his collection on a pink smock he wears that is dotted with several of his pins. It's one of the best ways to advertise his collection to potential traders, who can be journalists, athletes or other collectors.

Of the 10,000 pins in his collection, one stands out as a favorite.

“I have a pin from the London Olympics of 1908 that was only given to competitors,'' he said. "It is very rare, and quite beautiful.”

When it comes to Presburger’s Olympic memories over the years, his experience in 1992 was one he will never forget.

“I have too many memories," he said. "My favorite is getting in to the Athlete's Village for the first time in Barcelona. It was a thrill to be where they were and trade with them all day. It was a great time.”

While he had to give the athletes a few pointers on the best way to trade, he said they are "pretty quick kids.” 

Presburger may have favorites when it comes to pins and Olympic memories, but not when picking which teams to cheer for.

“I don't root for individuals or even countries,'' he said. "I like competition to be fair and hard fought.”

According to Presburger, “The pins from BBC are in quite a bit of demand. The Japanese media pins are also hot. It is really too early to know what the pin of the games will be.”

The pin collecting world is an Olympic tradition going back decades. The International Olympic Committee recently joined forces with the Olympin Collectors Club, the most active pin club in the world, to honor collectors who have made “long and outstanding contributions to Olympic collecting at local, national or international levels.” 

IOC President Jacques Rogge called Olympic collectors “the unofficial custodians of a vast amount of Olympic history.''

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TODAY.com contributor Jillian Eugenios owns a pink smock, and now all she needs are some pins. Drop her off at the Olympic Village stat! TODAY.com's Ian Sager contributed to this story -- the pins caught his eye!