Silver and gold coins designed for the London Olympics 2012
The Royal Mint has recently launched their Olympic coins which are designed by the acclaimed sculptor, Sir Anthony Caro, and Tom Phillips, who is an author as well as an expert on ping pong. These coins are both in silver and gold and weigh 1 kilo each.
Phillips commented about the coins in the following joking manner: "We're launching the new competitive Olympics team sport of synchronised coin striking."
The coins currently have the status of being legal tender. This means that they need a special act of parliament before any monetary exchange can be attributed to them. A total of 2012 silver coins are being made for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The face value that a single silver coin has equals to be £500, however, they will be made to sell for £3,000. On the other hand, the face value that one gold coin has equals to £1,000 but the price on which it would be sold to the public is the sum of £100,000. In all, there are a total of 60 gold coins that have been made for the international sporting event that will take place in London next year.
Phillips made the following comments about the coins: "When I was told it was the £500 coin I thought well I’ve done a 50p coin and a £5 coin so that's OK, that's promotion. And then that old paranoid competitive artist thing rose up in me, and I asked who was doing the gold coin. When I heard it was Tony I thought that's fine, old colleagues, old friends, it will be a thrill."
The Olympic Games are heading to the capital of England for the third time in the city’s history. The first time that London played host to the Olympic Games was in 1908 while the second time London got the privilege was in 1948. After having successfully welcomed the Summer Olympic Games in 2012, the city of London will become the first city in the world to have hosted the Olympics for three times.
Tags: