Olympic Coins: A Golden Trace of Centuries of History and Investment

Among coin collectors and investors, domestic gold coins issued in honor of the Olympic Games held in our country are particularly popular. These commemorative coins, bearing Olympic symbols, are not only a testament to sports history but also a valuable asset. However, the tradition of their minting originated far beyond Russia's borders.

The Genesis of a Tradition: Coins of Ancient Hellas

The history of the Olympic Games begins in 776 BCE in Ancient Greece. Every four years, athletes from all over Hellas gathered in the sacred city of Olympia, where magnificent sports competitions took place. These games were the greatest celebration, during which wars ceased, and it was an honor for any citizen of Greece to at least witness them.

Not everyone could afford to attend such a grand event, and to allow everyone to feel a sense of belonging, the Greeks began to mint and freely sell special commemorative coins. These coins bore Olympic symbols, allowing everyone to become a part of the great celebration.

The first such Olympic coins were minted in the 6th-5th centuries BCE. These were staters, struck from gold or silver. Their design was highly symbolic, reflecting the religious and cultural aspects of Ancient Greece.

• **Obverse:** An image of the chief Greek god Zeus or his consort, the chief goddess Hera, was always present.
• **Reverse:** An image of the ancient Greek goddess of victory Nike was minted, along with a weaving of olive branches, which served as a reward for the winners of the Olympic Games. Later, individual competition winners also began to be immortalized on the coins.

From the very beginning, these gold and silver coins were created as commemorative tokens for Greeks who could not personally attend the Olympics. They immediately became collector's items and were rarely used as a means of payment. The rare use of such collectible coins as regular money is more characteristic of our time.

The Revival of the Olympic Movement and Coin Minting

In 394 AD, with the spread of Christianity, the Olympic Games and all associated rituals were classified as pagan and banned. It was not until nearly fifteen centuries later, at the end of the 19th century, that humanity saw their return. The French public figure Pierre de Coubertin proposed reviving the Olympic movement, and the first modern Olympic Games, risen from the ashes, were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece.

However, the tradition of minting Olympic coins was resumed much later, in the past 20th century. This marked the beginning of a new era in the history of commemorative coins, available to collectors and investors.

First Modern Olympic Issues and Their Features

Starting in 1964, all Summer and almost all Winter Olympics have been marked by the issue of commemorative currency. Interestingly, these were produced not only by the host nations where the sporting events directly took place, but also by other countries seeking to immortalize such a significant event on their own coinage, including gold and silver coins.

Moscow Games 1980: Record Issue of Olympic Coins

The Soviet Union, which hosted the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980, took up Canada's idea of issuing gold Olympic currency and surpassed it. For the Moscow Olympic Games, 45 different USSR coins were produced, with denominations ranging from 1 to 150 rubles.

This issue set two absolute records: the maximum number of commemorative coins in the entire history of the Olympic Games, and the maximum number of Olympic medals won. Traditionally, any state hosting the games issued no more than six coins.

For the XIII Winter Olympic Games held in the same year, 1980, in Lake Placid, USA, no special coins were issued. This was due to the fact that the Moscow Olympic Games already had an extensive and record-breaking series of commemorative coins.

Innovations and Design: Modern Trends in Minting

The beginning of the new millennium was marked by the appearance of innovative colored inserts on commemorative Olympic money. Such coins were first issued as part of the preparatory activities for the XXVII Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and became some of the most popular in the history of Olympic coins.

For the XXX Jubilee Olympics held in London in 2012, the British Royal Mint struck an entire coin collection. The most popular among them were the 50-pence sports-themed coins, distinguished by their exclusive heptagonal shape.

All residents of Great Britain could participate in the design of these coins. Notable sketches were selected on a competitive basis from approximately 30,000 submitted projects, from which 29 commemorative coins dedicated to various Olympic and Paralympic sports were produced.

The obverse of these coins featured the royal profile of Elizabeth II, while the reverse displayed attributes of sports disciplines. The youngest of the selected authors was a nine-year-old schoolgirl from Bristol, whose project depicted high jump. The commemorative Olympic coins for the XIV London Paralympic Games in 2012 featured the same nominal value and heptagonal shape.

Sochi 2014: Diversity of Russian Issues

For the XXII Winter Olympics held in the southern Russian city of Sochi, serial Sochi-2014 coins made of gold and silver of various denominations were issued. Coins made of non-precious metals, a copper-nickel alloy, with color designs, especially mascot coins, as well as ordinary circulating coins with a face value of 25 Russian rubles, also appeared.

The Bank of Russia additionally issued investment coins as gifts: gold coins with a face value of 100 rubles and silver coins with a face value of 3 rubles. These commemorative issues have an unusual rectangular shape and feature the image of a specific mascot on the reverse, and the state emblem of Russia on the obverse.

Interestingly, in 2014, Russia, by issuing 44 different Olympic gold coins with a total mintage exceeding 36 million copies, almost did not surpass its own achievement from 1980. Thus, Olympic coins continue to be a significant element of cultural heritage and an object of interest for collectors, as well as a tool for creating a personal gold reserve.