2004 Coinage
| The Acropolis of Athens | ||||
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| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €100 | Alloy: Au 999 (Gold) | Quantity: 28,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 1 April 2004 | Diameter: 25 mm (0.98 in) | Weight: 10 g (0.35 oz; 0.32 ozt) | Issue price: €440 Market value: €398 |
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| The Acropolis of Athens was selected as the main motif of the obverse of this coin. It encompasses a collection of ancient Greek monuments, including the Parthenon, the Erechtheum, the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, ... among others. The Acropolis represents all the periods of the city that lies at its feet, since all the historical events of Athens unfolded and centered around this low rock. It was constructed between 447 BC and 432 BC and was originally painted in vivid reds and blues, but the marble pillars gradually lost their color and faded to white. It is also directly relevant to athletic events since during the Panathenaic Festival a torch race took place at night, starting from the altar of Prometheus in the Academy and ending before the altar of Athena on the top of the rock.
The reverse, similarly to the set of coins of 2003, features two concentric rings. The outer ring portrays 12 stars, a design motif characteristic of euro coins. The inner ring portrays the face value of €100, an olive branch around the Athens 2004 logo, the five Olympic circles, and the Anthemion Flower - the symbol of the Greek Mint. |
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| Weightlifting | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 1 April 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €39-€45 |
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| Weightlifting is a sport based on the lifting of a series of progressively heavier metal weights. It is popular internationally, notably in Bulgaria, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Greece, Poland, the Post-Soviet states, Romania, Turkey and the United States. On the obverse of the coin, a weightlifter executes a snatch move (arase): he is standing and holding the weights above his head, while the ancient athlete in the background is attempting to lift two natural stones, in a portrayal inspired by that on a black-figure vase of the 6th/5th century BC.
The reverse, similarly to the set of coins of 2003, features two concentric rings. The outer ring portrays 12 stars, a design motif characteristic of euro coins. The inner ring portrays the face value of €10, an olive branch around the Athens 2004 logo, the five Olympic circles, and the Anthemion Flower - the symbol of the Greek Mint. |
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| Wrestling | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 1 April 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €35-€45 |
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| Wrestling has been popular throughout recorded history. Early Egyptian and Babylonian reliefs depict wrestlers using most of the holds known to the modern sport. In ancient Greece, Greek wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature; wrestling competition was the supreme contest of the Olympic Games. On the obverse of the coin, a modern athlete applies a waist-hold on his opponent and prepares to throw him down to the ground, while in the background two ancient athletes are pictured in the stance known as akrocheirismos (finger-hold) and are pushing their heads against each other. | ||||
| Academy of Athens | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €100 | Alloy: Au 999 (Gold) | Quantity: 28,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 31 May 2004 | Diameter: 25 mm (0.98 in) | Weight: 10 g (0.35 oz; 0.32 ozt) | Issue price: €440 Market value: €398 |
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| The modern Academy of Athens is the foremost intellectual institution of modern Greece with the promotion of the Arts and Sciences as its most basic mission. The first discussions regarding its establishment took place during meetings of the Greek National Assembly at Epidaurus in 1826. The building, designed by the Danish architect Baron Theophil von Hansen, began construction in 1859 on a site ceded by the Petraki Monastery and the Athens municipality, with funds offered for the purpose by the Greek public benefactor, Simon Sinas. Hence, it is also known as the Sinaea Academia. The Academy began to operate in 1926, and is constituted by three departments, Exact Sciences, Fine Arts Letters and the Moral and Political Sciences.
The Academy is the motif of the sixth gold Olympic coin of the series. The intention was to highlight the premise that in the city of Athena, the Olympic Games should not only be the most important athletic event, but also reflect equal importance toward intellectual and cultural activities. All three should be equivalent to the style and character of the city that was the birthplace and the matrix for the revival of the modern Olympic Games of 1896. |
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| Football | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 31 May 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €45 |
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| Football games were common in many parts of the world in ancient times with each culture playing a different form. Some 2,500 years ago the Chinese played a form of it called Cuju, in which they kicked a ball of stuffed leather. Natives of Polynesia are known to have played a variation of the game with a ball made of bamboo fibres, while the Inuit had another form using a leather ball filled with moss. In most cases, the ball was a symbol for the Sun and "conquering" it would ensure fertility and a good crop.
The design of this coin represents a modern football player ready to hit the ball, his ancient counterpart demonstrates his technique by bouncing a ball on his thigh, his hands tied behind his back. The representation was taken from a 4th-century BC. marble relief. |
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| Handball | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 31 May 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €34-€45 |
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| Team handball is one of the world's oldest sports and many civilizations and nations claim its origins as their own. Even Homer describes the game in the Odyssey. It was first introduced at the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics as an 11-a-side outdoor game. On the coin, the modern athlete directs the ball in his hands towards his target, while in the background the ancient athlete is just about to throw a ball, in a game known as cheirosphaira, in a representation taken from a black figure vase of the Archaic period. | ||||
| Torch Relay - Start Ceremony | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €100 | Alloy: Au 999 (Gold) | Quantity: 28,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2004 | Diameter: 25 mm (0.98 in) | Weight: 10 g (0.35 oz; 0.32 ozt) | Issue price: €440 Market value: €999 |
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| The tradition of the relay of the Olympic Flame, which culminates in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony of each Games, dates from the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. To symbolize the link between the ancient and modern Olympic Games the flame is lit in a ceremony at Olympia, Greece, and then carried, by runners, to the Olympic site for that year. The lighting of the Olympic cauldron has become the most hallowed moment of each Olympic Games and is depicted on the first gold coin of the Torch Relay series. | ||||
| Torch Relay - Americas | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €999 |
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| Torch Relay - Africa | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €999 |
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| Torch Relay - Asia | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €999 |
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| Torch Relay - Australia | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (Silver) | Quantity: 68,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2004 | Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 in) | Weight: 34 g (1.20 oz; 1.09 ozt) | Issue price: €44 Market value: €999 |
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| The 2004 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first truly universal relay ever. The Olympic Flame started its journey at Ancient Olympia and was carried by 3600 torch bearers across 34 cities throughout the world. On 3 June 2004, the flame was carried to Australia, from there it travelled to Asia, to Africa and to the Americas. It was the first time the Olympic Flame was transported to Africa and South America. The Flame then returned to Europe and reached its destination, Greece, on 9 July 2004. The four silver coins depict the Olympic Torch Relay from Europe to the other four continents. | ||||
| Torch Relay - Return Ceremony | ||||
| Designer: Panayiotis Gravalos & Kostas Kazakos | Mint: Mint of Greece | |||
| Value: €100 | Alloy: Au 999 (Gold) | Quantity: 28,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2004 | Diameter: 25 mm (0.98 in) | Weight: 10 g (0.35 oz; 0.32 ozt) | Issue price: €440 Market value: €999 |
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| The flame returned to Greece on 9 July 2004. In a symbolic torch relay 7700 torch bearers carried the flame across the Greek mainland and its islands. After 31 days, the Olympic Flame was returned to Attica. On 13 August 2004, it entered the Olympic Stadium lighting the central altar which remained lit throughout the Games. This theme is depicted on the second gold coin. | ||||
Read more about this topic: Euro Gold And Silver Commemorative Coins (Greece)
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“Designs in connection with postage stamps and coinage may be described, I think, as the silent ambassadors on national taste.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)