First Gold Medal

Obverse

in the center — the Emblem of the Bank of Russia (the two headed eagle designed by I.Bilibin), the letters under it indicate the metal sign, the fineness, the mint trademark and the fine metal content.. The inscriptions along the rim framed by a circle of dots: at the top — «50 РУБЛЕЙ 1993 г.» (50 RUBLES 1993), at the bottom — "БАНК РОССИИ" (BANK OF RUSSIA).

Reverse

in the center - Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin, to the left - the Emblem of the National Olympic Committee of Russia, to the right - a laurel branch, an ice skate and a three-line inscription - "Н.А.ПАНИН-КОЛОМЕНКИН" (N.A. PANIN-KOLOMENKIN), the inscriptions along the rim: at the top - "ОЛИМПИЙСКИЙ ВЕК РОССИИ" (THE OLYMPIC CENTURY OF RUSSIA), at the bottom - "ПЕРВАЯ ЗОЛОТАЯ МЕДАЛЬ ЛОНДОН" (THE FIRST GOLD MEDAL LONDON).

Authors

The artists: A.V. Baklanov (obverse), N.A. Nosov (reverse)
The sculptor: A.V. Baklanov
Leningrad Mint (ЛМД)
The edge: 200 corrugations

The Olympic Games originate from Greece. They were celebrated in Olympia from 776 BC to 394 AD. All hostilities were suspended while the Olympic Games were held. The modern Olympiads began at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), a French public figure who was for many years the President of the International Olympic Committee, founded in 1894. Russian general A. D. Butovsky was one of the founders of the IOC. The first Russian athlete to receive an Olympic gold medal was Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin (1871(72)-1956), who won the figure-skating competition at the Fourth Olympiad held in London in 1908.