2008 Olympic commemorative coins

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Olympic commemorative coins issued in Australia

CANBERRA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The commemorative gold, silver and bronze coins for the 2008 Beijing Olympics were issued by Perth Mint at a ceremony at the mint office.

The gold coin contains an image of the Olympic stadium in Beijing with the Sydney Opera House, the silver coin has an athlete intertwined with a Chinese dragon, and the bronze has the boxing kangaroo with a Chinese dragon.

"They're beautiful, they really sparkle, don't they? They get your heart ticking," Australian Associated Press quoted Carbon said.

"It's a really nice way to bring both the Australian culture and the Chinese culture together, emblazoned with the Olympic message as well, it's a lovely combination," he said.

"These are designed by our own artists, the dies are cut with our own computer-driven engraving machines and the whole process is done here," Perth Mint chief executive officer Ed Harbuz said at the ceremony, adding that the design process took up to three months, Mr Harbuz said.

"We have to get the designs approved both by the Australian Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Treasury," he said.

Perth Mint has made 2008 of the gold coins, which can be bought at 795 Australian dollars each, while the three-coin set costs 890Australian dollars and the silver costs 95 Australian dollars.

There are 8,808 of the silver coins and 888 of the suite box of the three: gold, silver and bronze.

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2008 Australian Olympic Team Three Coin Set

The most exclusive presentation of this exciting new series, the 2008 Australian Olympic Team Three Coin Set has an unbelievably tiny limited edition of just 888!

A comprehensive collection, each set includes the 40.6mm 1oz .999 Silver Proof $1, the 22.5mm 10g .9999 Gold Proof $60 AND a unique al-br $1 BU type! Featuring the iconic Boxing Kangaroo, a Chinese Dragon and official AOC ‘Flag & Rings’ logo, this 30.2mm $1 forms the perfect complement to the full-colour precious metal Proofs.

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2008 $60 Australian Olympic Team 10g Gold Proof

Face value: $60
Quality: proof
Metal: Au .9999
Weight: 10g
Diameter: 22.5mm
Mintage: 2008
Minted by Perth Mint

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2008 $1 Australian Olympic Team 1oz Silver Proof

Face value: $1
Quality: proof
Metal: Ag .999
Weight: 31.1g
Diameter: 40.6mm
Mintage: 8808
Minted by Perth Mint