Japan designs coins for 2020 Olympics, Paralympics
- Published: Sep 4, 2016, 4 AM

The 2016 Rio Olympic Games were barely complete (and the Paralympic Games had yet to commence) when Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced that Japan would issue two silver Handover coins for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Japan’s Mint will strike two 1,000-yen coins, each featuring color to enhance Olympic rings and flags, marking the handover of the Summer Games from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo.
These will be the first Japanese coins with color printing on both sides, according to the Aug. 26 announcement from the Ministry of Finance.
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The flag handover ceremony from the current host to the future hosts closes out the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.
The .999 fine silver 1,000-yen coins each weigh 31.1 grams and measure 40 millimeters in diameter.
The coins feature either the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games emblem or the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games emblem on the reverse, in full color, each with a distinctive obverse featuring differing imagery (incorporating national flowers and flag colors, games flags, a globe and more) that ties together the two nations.
The coins have a mintage limit of 50,000 pieces per design; wholesale sales begin in September and the coins are due for release “around December” 2016.
The official issue price is set as 9,500 yen (about $92.31 U.S.) but the Ministry of Finance did not specify whether that was for one or two coins.
PandaAmerica is the official distributor for the Japan Mint in the United States; to learn more, or order the coins, contact the company website.
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