Issue date: 19th June 2008
Designs: Roberto Maurii
Mintage: PROOF by I.P.Z.S., Roma
Silver fineness: 925/000
Diameter: 32 mm
Weight: 18 gr
The Republic of San Marino celebrates the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the issue of a silver 5 euro coin in a proof version: on the obverse an allegoric composition of the three stylized feathers with a reference to the Great Wall of China, whilst on the reverse, a juggler is depicted with a ribbon making five round circles representing the Olympic rings. The five rings represent the five continents and are intertwined between themselves to symbolize the union of peoples through the Olympic Games. Each ring has a different colour: blue, yellow, black, green, red. Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, chose these five colours, plus the white of the background, because, at the time, they were the colours used in all the flags of the world. In this way, the Olympic flag, depicting the five rings on a white background, would have represented all the World’s nations.
