Georgia develops silver coin to symbolise Olympic festival

A limited edition silver coin has been developed as one of the symbols of the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), being held in Tbilisi later this month.

National Bank of Georgia (NBG) president Giorgi Kadagidze presented the collector coin today and noted limited numbers of the coin had been created and were now available for purchase.

The coin was specifically designed by local painter Mamuka Gongadze to commemorate the 13^th European Youth Olympic Festival.

One face of the commemorative coin featured the EYOF emblem and the Olympic sports icons while the reverse side depicted a map of Europe and the symbols of the NBG and Georgia’s currency, the Lari.

A total of 3,000 copies of the coin have been produced and will be sold for 65 GEL each.

The NBG president said the coin would be a nice way to celebrate Tbilisi’s hosting the EYOF 2015.

"We believe that this decision will contribute to a better portrayal of our state and Georgian sports. Besides the fact that the coin is very beautiful, one of its main purposes is to promote this event, our city and our country,” Kadagidze said.

"I think this will be a very pleasant gift for our guests and will become an important attribute of the Olympic Games,” he noted.

The EYOF 2015, commonly known as Tbilisi 2015, will see more than 4,000 youth athletes from 49 European countries descend on Georgia’s capital to participate in nine sports: judo, tennis, artistic gymnastics, track cycling, track and field athletics, swimming, volleyball, handball and basketball.

Tbilisi 2015 will be held in Georgia’s capital from July 25 to August 1, 2015. The full schedule of events has already been posted on the EYOF website.

Meanwhile the Olympic flame is continuing its journey across Georgia. The flame is visiting the country’s highest region Svaneti today. Before arriving in Tbilisi for the EYOF competition, the flame will have visited all 67 municipalities of Georgia.