Tuesday, July 31, 2012

London 2012 Olympic gold medal


London 2012 Olympic gold medal
Designed especially for each Games, the medals are what every athlete strives to win.

The medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games will be awarded during a total of 302 Victory Ceremonies, taking places at venues across the UK.
The medals have been designed by David Watkins, an established artist in the field of decorative art, and are in production at the Royal Mint headquarters in Llantrisant, South Wales.
The story behind the medal
The Olympic medals’ circular form is a metaphor for the world. The front of the medal always depicts the same imagery at the Summer Games – the Greek Goddess of Victory, Nike, stepping out of the depiction of the Parthenon to arrive in the Host City.
The design for the reverse features five symbolic elements:
- The curved background implies a bowl similar to the design of an amphitheatre.
- The core emblem is an architectural expression, a metaphor for the modern city, and is deliberately jewel-like.
- The grid suggests both a pulling together and a sense of outreach – an image of radiating energy that represents the athletes’ efforts.
- The River Thames in the background is a symbol for London and also suggests a fluttering baroque ribbon, adding a sense of celebration.
- The square is the final balancing motif of the design, opposing the overall circularity of the design, emphasising its focus on the centre and reinforcing the sense of ‘place’ as in a map inset.
Medal specification
- The London 2012 Olympic medals weigh 375-400g, are 85mm in diameter and 7mm thick.
- The gold medal is made up of 92.5% silver and 1.34% gold, with the remainder copper (a minimum of 6g of gold).
- The silver medal is made up of 92.5% silver, with the remainder copper.
- The bronze medal is made up of 97.0% copper, 2.5% zinc and 0.5% tin.
The precious ore for the medals has been supplied by London 2012 sponsor Rio Tinto and was mined at Kennecott Utah Copper Mine near Salt Lake City in America, as well as from the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia. For the small amount of non-precious elements that make up the bronze medals, the zinc was sourced from a mine in Australia as well as from recycled stock, while the tin originates from a mine in Cornwall.
How the designs were chosen
When creating the brief, the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) Victory Ceremonies team worked closely with the British Museum’s Keeper of Coins and Medals, Philip Attwood, to look at the symbolic history of medals in Europe in the last century.
An independent panel of Sir John Sorrel (chair), Sir Mark Jones, Catherine Johnson, Ade Adepitan (deputy chair), Iwona Blazwick OBE, Niccy Hallifax and Martin Green was set up to look at the designs submitted by over 100 artists. The LOCOG Athletes’ Committee, chaired by Jonathan Edwards, and the British Olympic Association (BOA) were also involved throughout the process.
The medals can be seen at the British Museum throughout the Games. 

Poland : 2012 London Olympic Stamps and FDC




author: Agata Tobolczyk
number of stamps: 4
denomination: PLN 1,55, PLN 1,95, PLN 2,40, PLN 3
print run: 240.000 of each stamp
printing tech nique: offset
stamp size: 43 x 31,25 mm
paper: fluorescent
selling sheets: 4 stamps
circulation date: 27 July 2012

Ukraine : 2012 London Olympic Stamps and FDC


Monday, July 30, 2012

Gagan Narang wins India’s first medal at 2012 Olympics



Gagan Narang won the bronze medal for India in the 10-m air rifle event at the London Olympics 2012 with Romania's Alin George Moldoveanu winning gold and Italy's Niccolo Campriani winning silver
Ace marksman Gagan Narang on Monday opened India’s account in the London Olympic Games by clinching the bronze medal in the men’s 10m air rifle event here.
Narang shot 103.1 in a gripping ten-shot finals for an aggregate of 701.1 after scoring 598 in the qualifying round in which also he stood third.
The gold was won by Romania’s Moldoveanu Alin George who tallied 702.1, that included 103.1 in the final, to upset world number 1 Niccolo Campriani of Italy who stood second with 701.5 at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
After a good start when he shot 10.7, Narang was off target with his second shot that fetched him 9.7. But he gathered his wits and steadied his aim to collect 10.6 10.7 10.4 and 10.6 in the following four shots to at one stage remain on course for bagging even a silver.
However, he slipped a bit and had to fight for the bronze medal with China’s Wang Tao who finished fourth with 700.4.
After returning poor scores of 9.9 and 9.5 in the seventh and eighth attempts, Narang pulled up his socks to seal the bronze with impressive scores of 10.3 and 10.7.
Narang’s compatriot and defending champion Abhinav Bindra had, however, suffered a shocking exit with his dismal show in the preliminaries in which he stood 16th out of 47 contestants with a score of 594 out of 600.
Narang’s bronze medal is only the third in shooting on the planet’s biggest sporting event after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s silver in double trap in Athens 2004 and Bindra’s gold in the last Games at Beijing.
This was also India’s eighth individual medal in the Olympic Games.
With Alin George and Campriani able to maintain their grip on the top two positions, the competition for the bronze medal had boiled down to a tense contest between the Indian and his Chinese rival over the last few shots in which Narang prevailed.
There was stage when Campriani’s poor efforts of 9.9 and 9.4 in the eighth and the penultimate series gave Narang a whiff of chance of winning the silver, but the Italian fired a 10.4 in his last shot to dash the Indian’s hope of finishing second.
Earlier, Narang had kept alive India’s hopes by advancing to the medal round after Bindra crashed out.
Bindra, who scripted history four years ago by becoming the country’s first—ever individual gold medallist in the Olympics, shot 594 out of 600 to finish a shocking 16th out of 47 competitors and lost the golden chance of becoming the world’s first shooter to win two successive gold medals at the mega event.
However, Narang kept India in the hunt by finishing third with 598, a point behind Campriani and Alin George who both shot an Olympic record—equalling 599 to stand first and second in the qualifying round.
President congratulates Narang
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday congratulated shooter Gagan Narang for winning a bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle event of the London Olympics.
Narang shot 103.1 in a gripping ten-shot finals for an aggregate of 701.1 after scoring 598 in the qualifying round in which also he stood third.
Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra could not make the final in the same event.

Croatia : 2012 London Olympic Stamp and FDC


Friday, July 27, 2012

Russia : 2012 London Olympic Stamps


Russia issued new postage stamp in circulation dedicated to the Olympic Games in London. The Olympics stamp will only cost 50 rubles and have a circulation of 110,000 copies.
On the face of the stamp there is a map of the city with the Olympic marathon route highlighted and the silhouettes of running athletes.
The symbol of the games is visible on the stamp and is formed by shapes which form the year of the games "2012".
In another corner of the stamp there is the word "London" and in another the image of Olympic rings.
The stamp is available in four colors: blue, green, orange and yellow.

India : 2012 Olympic Stamps and FDC



Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Mongolia : 2012 London Olympic Stamps


July 6, 2012 - Mongolia NOC in a kind collaboration with “Mongol Post " Co.Ltd has unveiled special stamps dedicated to London-2012 Olympics.
 Mongolia has issued an olympic stamps since its first olympic appearance at Tokyo-64 and new ones are depicted London'ssightseeing attractive places and mongolian medal-hope sports for Olympics, which is depicted by designer Mr.Ch.Bat-Erdene.

Australia Second Issue : 2012 London Olympic Games


This issue is the second of three being released for the Games of the XXX Olympiad (27 July-12 August 2012) in London.
This issue, which carries the symbol of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), commemorates the performances of Australia's athletes at the Olympic Games. Represented on the stamps is the sport of Rowing, discipline of Swimming and event of Pole Vault. These subjects are indicative of Australian athletes' strengths at past Olympic Games: historically most medals won by Australian athletes have been in Swimming, Athletics, Cycling and Rowing.
The Australian Olympic team athletes have always been most successful in the pool, as indicated by their 168 Olympic medals, including 56 gold. Australia's fi rst Olympic swimmer was Fredrick ‘Freddy' Lane, who won two gold medals in 1900 in Paris. In the 1950s and 60s, swimmers such as Murray Rose, Dawn Fraser, Lorraine Crapp and Jon Konrads became household names.
Issue highlights
The postal and numismatic cover for this issue uses three coins released by The Perth Mint. Each of the $1 Aluminium Bronze coins is legal tender.
Technical details
Issue date: 17 July 2012
Issue withdrawal date: 31 January 2013
FDI withdrawal date: 15 August 2012
Denominations: 1 x 60c, 1 x $1.60, 1 x $2.35
Stamp design: Johnathan Chong
Product design: Sharon Rodziewicz
Printer: McKellar Renown
Paper - gummed: Tullis Russell
Paper - self-adhesive: B90 and B100
Printing process: Lithography
Stamp size: 37.5mm x 26mm
Minisheet size: 135mm x 72mm
Perforations: 14.6 x 13.86
Sheet layout: Module of 50
National postmark: Wembley, WA 6014

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Vietnam : 2012 London Olympic Stamps & FDC



Vietnam Post has issued a set of four stamps commemorating the London 2012 Olympic Games and showcasing four of the sports in which the country will be competing. Each of the stamps features a drawing of a different sport: weightlifting (2000d), fencing (3500d), gymnastics (8500d) and martial arts (12,000d). This summer, Vietnam will be represented by athletes competing across ten different events including taekwondo, swimming, athletics and badminton.
Vietnam has competed at the Olympic Games since 1952 and has so far won thirteen medals, although Vietnam has yet to achieve Gold at the Games.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Hong Kong : 2012 London Olympic Stamps




 Four stamps showcase a number of sports in which the Hong Kong Olympic team has participated, including windsurfing and rowing ($1.40), badminton and archery ($2.40), table tennis and cycling ($3), and swimming and athletics ($5). Embedded in the design of each stamp is a digit. All four taken together,  "2 - 0 - 1 - 2". The stamps combine to form a complete sphere, with colourful cylinders that resemble fireworks, suggesting the excitement and vitality of the Games. Echoing the theme of the London Olympics, three-dimensional shapes are also used on the right of the souvenir sheet to portray the Olympic events as well as various famous landmarks of London. Radiating lines in the background add to the dynamics of the whole design.
Stamp products include mint stamps, stamp sheets, souvenir sheet and presentation pack. Serviced first day covers.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Slovenia : 2012 London Olympic Stamps



Olympic stamps by Slovenia

These special multi-colour Olympic stamps by Slovenia show motifs of swimming, judo, sailing and basketball. The new Olympic stamps, with a nominal value of EUR 0.77 and 0.92, are as always printed in sheetlets of six stamps each. The left and right margins depict the Olympic rings, the logo of London 2012 and stamps of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Royal Mail : Welcome to the London 2012 Paralympic Games - 29 August 2012 Stamps & FDC



Welcome to the London 2012 Paralympic Games - 29 August 2012 :

The London 2012 Games commences on 27 July and concludes on 12 August. The Paralympic Games commences on 29 August and concludes on 9 September.
Royal Mail welcomes the Paralympians of the world to London with a stamp issue dedicated to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The stamps on this Miniature Sheet will show Paralympic athletes and London Landmarks

Details :

The sheet contains two x 1st class and 2 x £1.28 multicoloured stamps:
1st class: Wheelchair basketball & the Parliament and Big Ben; Athletics and the Olympic Stadium.
£1.28 Cycling and the London Eye; Weightlifting, the Millennium Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Malta : 2012 London Olympic Stamps

On 27 July, MaltaPost will issue a set of two stamps commemorating the 2012 London Olympic Games. The stamps, valued at €0.37 and €2.11, depict the 2012 Olympic Games logo and Wenlock, one of the Games’ mascots.
“The Philatelic Bureau of MaltaPost chose to reflect the magnitude of the upcoming Olympics – the biggest sporting event in the world,” explains Joseph Gafá, CEO at MaltaPost plc. “With 26 sports in play, 10,500 athletes taking part and millions of spectators watching the action, the 2012 Games are set to be one of the largest ever. Thus we believe it is important for Malta to highlight such important international activities, especially as some of our top sportspeople will also be representing Malta in London.”
The two stamps highlight two very important focuses of this year’s Olympics – its logo and its mascot.
The logo is a representation of the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero. It was designed to have a flexible colour palate so as to enable corporate sponsors to integrate their own colours, but the standard hues are green, magenta, orange and blue. The logo will be used on MaltaPost’s €0.37 stamp.
Meanwhile, one of the Games’ two Official Mascots is Wenlock and he will take up pole position on MaltaPost’s €2.11 stamp. Wenlock and his co-mascot Mandeville (who will represent the Paralympic Games), were chosen from designs submitted by over 100 different international agencies. Wenlock’s design incorporates a London taxi light, a camera that allows him to record everything and friendship bands in the five colours of the Olympic Rings.
The set ‘London 2012 Olympic Games’ was designed by Sean Cini and was issued as miniature sheet bearing two stamps with values of €0.37 and €2.11. The sheet measures 120mm x 80mm, the stamps measure 44mm x 31mm, and they have a perforation of 13.9 x 14.0 (comb.). The stamp has been offset with the watermark of the Maltese Cross and was printed by Printex Ltd.
The set will be available as from 27th July from all Post Offices in Malta and Gozo.

Czech Republic : 2012 London Olympic stamp

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Hungary : 2012 London Olympic Stamps



The two denominations consisting of a series of stamps designed by graphic artist Agnes Berta of the State Printing House made. The tradition appears Olympic stamps this time swimming and kayaking sports a moment immortalized by the artist. The official stamps of the Hungarian Olympic oath on the day of 2012. will be published on June 22, the presentation ceremony a few days later, on June 25 will be held at the House of the Hungarian Sports.