To mark and honour the second Modern Olympics hosted by Athens, Greece is about to launch a new GDR1,000 Olympic banknote and six varieties of GDR500 Olympic coins. Motifs chosen to adorn the coins are in tune with Olympic tradition. They will feature Diagoras of Rhodes, the fifth-century BC boxer who fathered a succession of renowned Olympic medallists, the entrance of the Olympic stadium at the ancient site of Olympia and the two pioneers for the revival of Modern Games: Greek Dimitrios Vikelas, who was the International Olympic Committees first president, and his successor, French Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Other depictions on the Olympic currency will include the lighting of the Olympic Flame in Olympia, a medal from the first Modern Games held in Athens in 1896, as well as marathon runner Spyros Louis - Greeces legendary gold medallist from those historic Games.

The new Olympic coins and banknotes scheduled to appear by November are sure to lure collectors, for besides their celebratory and sporty connotations, they will be the very last Greek currency to leave the National Mint, before the euro sets in. The Olympic GDR1,000 banknote will circulate in nine million pieces, while 24 million GDR500 pieces will also be produced, most of them offered in special collector's packaging.