The Winter Olympics will open Feb. 12 in Lillehammer, Norway, with the support of a series of gold and silver Olympic coins produced by the Royal Norwegian Mint.
The series is unusual in Olympic coinage in that designs have sought to connect the games with Norway’s history.
The first series included the image of a prehistoric skier found carved in a Norwegian cave. The second series includes a gold coin showing soldiers who rescued a king’s abducted infant child and skied to safety through Lillehammer in 1206.
Other coins in the series follow convention by depicting favorite winter sports but also differ from the norm by showing children on sleds and a grandfather pushing his grandchild in a sled. All the coins bear the portrait of King Harald V.
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Olympic coinage raises funds that are shared by the host country with all participating nations. The complete Olympic coins consist of three sets of one gold and four silver proof coins. Gold coins are sold individually; silver coins in pairs-50 and 100 kroner pieces. The three five-coin sets are also available now.
Gold coins sell for $435; silver proof sets sell for $78.50. Queries go to the U.S. distributor, Coin & Currency Institute, Box 1057, Clifton, N.J. 07014.
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Portrait medals first appeared in Renaissance Italy, but the idea took hold all over Europe and produced a substantial art form that continues today. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will display 170 portrait medals struck between 1430 and 1600 in its exhibit “Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance.” The exhibit will open Jan. 23.
A catalog will be available for $50 softbound from the National Gallery or for $95 hardbound from Harry N. Abrams, 100 5th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011.