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Athens 2004 - Olympic Games coins
In August 2004, the Olympic Games returned to the country where they were born over 2,500 years ago, and to Athens the city of their revival in 1896. Within the framework of the Olympic Coin Program, the Greek Mint issued a series of commemorative coins, Gold and Silver, on which Greek history and heritage were engraved. The total collection includes 18 coins (6 Gold and 12 Silver) which were released in 6 quarterly issues, each consisting of 1 Gold and 2 Silver coins. The themes were selected by the Minister for the National Economy and the Governor of the Bank of Greece, from a set of proposals presented by a national technical and artistic committee.
Series: A - B - C - D - E - F and Olympic Flame
Olympic Coins History
The first time coins were minted showing the Olympic Games was in the 15th Olympiad in Helsinki, Finland. The design was proposed for the 1940 Helsinki Games, but these were cancelled due to the Second World War. The Austrians then followed with the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics and the Japanese in the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Ever since the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, each organizing country has minted one or more coin series since the great demand from collectors helps to cover some of the Games' budget. The number of Olympic coins issued has also increased, as 24 different coins were minted for the 1972 Munich Olympics and 45 for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The success of circulation has led other countries to mint Olympic Games coins, the so-called 'sympathy coins' which have a secondary collectors' value. In 1996, the International Olympic Committee proceded to implement the Centennial Coin Programme by minting 90,000 gold and 500,000 silver coins in fourty different countries. This programme gave a new impetus to the 'noble contest' of collectors.
The idea of issuing special coins commemmorating the Olympic Games is not new. The silver statire issued in Aegina in 687 b.C. was the first of each kind, so the having a long history of issuing commemorative gold and silver coins, could not pass out on this opportunity. As Nikolaos Garganas, Governor of the Bank of Greece, emphasized in his speech on March 3, 2003, the bank has already issued:
- 3 silver and 2 gold drachma coins for the XIII Paneuropean Games held in Athens in 1982
- 1 silver and 1 gold drachma coins for the Olympic Torch for the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in 1984
- 2 silver and 1 gold drachma coins for the Olympic Games as part of the coin programme mentioned earlier, in 1996
Olympic Coins Ceremony
On March 3, 2003, the Bank of Greece introduced the new limited issue of coins to commemorate the 2004 Olympic Games. There are six series, each comprising one gold coin and two silver coins. The ceremony was attended by Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis and the Governor of the Bank of Greece, Nikos Garganas, as well as the ATHENS 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki. In her speech, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki underlined the importance of the coins, as the collection comprises the first Olympic coins of the new millennium and at the same becomes the first "collectable" Greek euros.
It should be emphasised that the 2004 Olympic Games commemorative coins are a minted collection and that they have unique collector's value in comparison with previous Olympic issues. Care was taken to ensure they circulate with fewer designs and in a limited number of sets, so as to enhance their collectors status. In all, 160,000 gold coins and 800,000 silver coins were put in circulation, and the quality of the minting is "proof", the highest in modern numismatic art. The coins are accompanied by individually numbered certificates of authenticity issued by the Bank of Greece. The anticipated gross revenue for ATHENS 2004 from their sale was estimated to be of the order of €2.5 million and Alpha Bank had exclusive distribution rights for the coins in Greece and Cyprus.
Buy the complete collective series
Efsimon Collections SA was the official licensee of the Olympic Committee for the distribution of the Official Coins of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games. Efsimon Collections SA supported the effort towards organising the best Olympic Games by creating high quality products with high collective value.
| Item | Price | |
Complete Set (6 Gold / 12 Silver coins) |
€ 3,300 |
 |
Complete Gold Set (6 Gold coins) |
€ 2,700 |
|
Complete Silver Set (12 Silver coins) |
€ 650 |
|
Olympic Torch Relay (2 Gold / 4 Silver coins) |
€ 1200 |
|
