Struck at the Greek National Mint, these legal tender coins were designed by Greece's famous painter and engraver Panagiotis Gravvalos. The reliefs were created with great skill by Kostas Kazakos who has put his signature on several of Greece's most beautiful coins.

Wrestling

Wrestling has its roots in prehistoric times and was one of the main contests used in the training of young people in antiquity. While some ancient writers attributed its origins to mythical personages, it also gave its . name (paly) to the area used for the math, that is the palaestra. Wrestling was part of the pentathlon and took three forms at least, while during Classical times it had two forms, "upright" wrestling (orthia paly) and "ground" wrestling (alindesis). In the first, the wrestler had to throw his opponent to the ground three times, while the second the contest continued until one of the contestants was compelled to admit defeat and withdraw.

Wrestling was one of the sports in the programme of the first ancient Olympic Games in Greece in 776 BC. It also was part of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, with the inclusion of a competition in the Greco-roman style without any weight category specifications. There followed a short period when this sport was excluded. However, in 1908 Greco-roman wrestling returned to the programme of the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, free style was incorporated to the Olympic Games in 1904.

On the coin, a modern athlete applies a waist-hold on his opponent and prepares to twist him around and throw him down to the ground, while in the background two ancient athletes are pictured in the stance know as akrocheirismos (finger hold) and are pushing their heads against each other. This representation was taken from a black-figure vase.