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Ghana
2004 Summer Olympics in Athens – Fantasy Issue
2001 Silver 500 Sika 37mm (31.10 grams) 0.999 Silver (1.00 oz. ASW)
Reference: N# 175174
GHANA 20 01 500 SIKA, National Coat-of-arms.
OLYMPICS 2004 ATHENS, A four-horse chariot in full gallop, above which Nike flies holding a victory crown. Similar to the coins of Philip of Macedon celebrate his victory in the category of ‘horse with rider’ in 356 BC and with a two-horse chariot four years later. Both are depicted on coins with the name of the king. The two-horse chariot is driven by the goddess Nike, which again makes this victory at Olympia a symbol of all his victories, including those on the battle field.
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 The 2004 Summer Olympics (Greek: Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 2004), officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad and commonly known as Athens 2004 (Greek: ΑθΗΝΑ 2004, Athena 2004), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes compete, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports. Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance, and also saw the return of the Olympic Games to the city where they began. Having previously hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896, Athens became one of only four cities to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two separate occasions at the time (together with Paris, London and Los Angeles).
A new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since 1928. This rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue; the new design features the Panathenaic Stadium.
The 2004 Olympic Games were hailed as “unforgettable dream games” by IOC President Jacques Rogge, and left Athens with a significantly improved infrastructure, including a new airport, ring road, and subway system. However, there have been arguments (mostly in popular media) regarding the cost of the 2004 Summer Games and their possible contribution to the 2010-18 Greek government-debt crisis, but there is little or no evidence for such a correlation. The 2004 Games were generally deemed to be a success, with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China and Russia with Greece at 15th place. Several world and Olympic records were broken during these Games.
  Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana means “Warrior King” in the Soninke language.
The first permanent state in the territory of present-day Ghana dates back to the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti.[10] Beginning in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading rights, with the British ultimately establishing control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of native resistance, Ghana’s current borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. It became independent of the United Kingdom on 6 March 1957.
Ghana’s population of approximately 30 million spans a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. According to the 2010 census, 71.2% of the population was Christian, 17.6% was Muslim, and 5.2% practised traditional faiths. Its diverse geography and ecology ranges from coastal savannahs to tropical rain forests.
Ghana is a unitary constitutional democracy led by a president who is both head of state and head of the government. Ghana’s growing economic prosperity and democratic political system have made it a regional power in West Africa. It is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Group of 24 (G24) and the Commonwealth of Nations.
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