2004 olimpic games

The competition between cities often causes governments to go financially overboard merely to win an Olympic bid. Once construction gets under way, governments often fail to budget properly. And after the Games are over, many cities are left with infrastructure that suddenly has no real use.

Not everyone, however, accepts that rationale. Some argue, for instance, that hosting the Olympics brings cities much-needed infrastructure projects. A total of 24 million coins have been struck, namely 4 million coins for each design.

At first glance, the mintage seems to be adequate as the total population of Hellas bearly exceeds 10 million people. It should also be noted that -for instance- the Greek Central Bank issues only 4 million pieces of the drachma coin every two years in order to satisfy domestic demand.

However, taking into account the increased demand for these coins by domestic and from around the world coin collectors, it is pretty doubtful that the majority of the population will ever get to see them in circulation. The modern Olympic Games is an international sports competition, held every four years at a different site.

The modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece, in , and the program for the Games included only summer events the Winter Olympics were not established until , in which about athletes from fewer than 15 countries participated. The common side of the coin displays the denomination drachmas , the sign of the Olympic Games the five rings , the Athens Olympic Games logo an Olive Wreath within a square and in a semi-circle the inscription "Hellenic Republic". Nike is the personification of victory, as it was depicted in a Greek statue from about bC.

Nike of Samothrace also known as Winged Victory , is one of the most famous Greek sculptures from the Hellenistic period. Company Corporate Trends. Defence National International Industry. International UAE. Saudi Arabia. World News. Rate Story. Font Size Abc Small. Abc Medium. Abc Large. The first time coins were minted showing the Olympic Games was in the 15th Olympiad in Helsinki, Finland.

The design was proposed for the Helsinki Games, but these were cancelled due to the Second World War. Ever since the 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 Munich Olympics and 45 for the 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 , the International Olympic Committee proceded to implement the Centennial Coin Programme by minting 90, gold and , silver coins in fourty different countries.

This programme gave a new impetus to the 'noble contest' of collectors. The idea of issuing special coins commemorating the Olympic Games is not new.