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SCMP Reporter

The millennium Olympics comes but once in our lifetime, and this year's Olympics in Sydney bears that special significance.

Keen collectors in Hong Kong of Olympics memorabilia now have a chance to add to their collections with Olympic 2000 coins.

The Sydney 2000 Coin Program, a joint programme between the Perth Mint and the Royal Australian Mint, is offering 36 sets of coins for sale in Hong Kong, each priced at HK$48,000.

The sets comprise two series of coins; one silver and one gold.

By Stuart Delvin, renowned coin designer and jeweller to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the 25 different designs represent the largest coin-design commission ever awarded.

'Mr Devlin discarded the design brief into the bin when he first saw it, thinking it was ridiculously ambitious. It took me three months to persuade him to take up the commission,' said Don Mackay-Coghill, chief executive officer of the Sydney 2000 Coin Program.

These coins are also the most significant in Australia's history and, arguably, the world, as they commemorate both the Olympics and the new millennium.

A miniature work of art, each coin was thoroughly researched and forms an integral part of the collection.

Mr Mackay-Coghill said that the coins told the story of the games and the cultural development and natural environment of Australia.

Mr Devlin singles out the centrepiece of the collection, the massive 'Silver Kilo Olympic Masterpiece' as the pinnacle of his coin-designing achievements. Described as the 'Coin of the Century', it is the biggest Olympic memorabilia coin, with a diameter of 100 millimetres and containing a kilogram of fine silver. The price is HK$6,280.

According to the Sydney 2000 Program, 200 of the 20,000 pieces produced are available for sale in Hong Kong.

About 12,000 of these coins have already been sold throughout the world.

Accompanying the coin is a silver-clad plaque with a serial number matching that of the Certificate of Authenticity.

The eight designs in the gold coin series seek to represent the Olympic and athletic ethos - the athlete's journey, dedication, preparation and achievement. Icons such as Sydney's grand stadium, where the games' opening and closing ceremonies are to be held, and the torch were used in the designs.

Out of these eight designs, colours are used on six of them for the first time in Olympic coin history. Coloured Olympics logos also appear on each of the silver coins.

All 30,000 pieces of the 'Journey Begins', the first coin in the gold series, were snapped up within weeks of their launch in October 1997.

'We believe that the value of the coins would appreciate for its exquisite designs, quality and scarcity. 'Journey Begins' has appreciated fourfold of its original value in the secondary market,' said Mr Mackay-Coghill.

The mints did not foresee the popularity of the first coloured gold coin, consequently the designs of the second and third coins in the series did not use colours.

After the overwhelming response, the remainder of the gold series resumed with coloured concepts.

Each gold coin is of 24-carat gold (99.99 per cent pure), with a diameter of 25mm, and the mintage is 30,000 per design. More than 70 per cent of the gold coins have been sold, most of them in Australia, where the series made its first appearance. The other major buyers are from Europe and the United States, according to Mr Mackay-Coghill.

The Olympic Pictogram Set, which combines the four gold coins featuring the official sporting pictograms of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, has been limited to a 5,000-set run and is available at HK$9,980 each.

The silver series comprises a total of 16 coins, divided into two design groupings of eight coins each.

Their value as collectables is enhanced by the Sydney 2000 logo and Olympic rings in colour. All coins bear the date 2000. The subtle use of colour on the Olympic rings is a first for Australian legal tender coins.

One series represents the social and cultural development of Australia and adopts the themes of the four Olympics Arts Festivals, which were staged in the lead up to the Games.

Two coins from the silver collection, which are sold out and available only in the secondary market, are designed by Nova Peris-Kneebone, an Olympic gold medallist and a member of Australia's victorious women's field hockey team in Atlanta in 1996.

The talented athlete also collaborated in two other coin designs, 'Festival of the Dreaming' and 'A Sea Change', with Mr Devlin. 'The special features in these two coins are the tiny white and black feet on each of them, which depict the white immigration which took place in Australia in the early 50s and 60s,' said Mr Mackay-Coghill.

Each coin in the second series carries a design featuring fauna and flora, including koala bears and flowering gums, a kangaroo and grass trees, white sharks and coral, providing a record of Australia's natural heritage.

More than 50 per cent of all the silver coins have also been sold. Australian collectors comprise the bulk of the market, about 55 per cent. As in past cases, the excitement and heat in the home market is beginning to be matched in the more than 50 countries where these coins are being sold.

The Millennium Coin Collection, of which only 3,000 were made, combines all eight gold and silver coins of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Program.

One gold and two silver coin sets, which carry the gold coin showing the Olympic stadium and silver coins featuring Sydney Harbour Bridge and the platypus (one of three Olympic mascots), is available at HK$3,280, with a limited edition of 6,000 sets.

These collections have all been available at major jewellers and banks in Hong Kong since their launch last Monday.

Graphic: devl30gwz

Graphic: kymleogwz



Local numismatists see Olympic gold