With the 2012 Summer Olympics starting next week in London, the folks at CNN Money did a report about the making of the medals by the Royal Mint.

Medals made for the XXX Olympiad in London are the largest medals ever made for a summer Olympics. Their specifications are as:

  • Diameter: 85mm (approx. 3.346 inches)
  • Thickness: 7mm
  • Weight: 412g (approx. 14.5 ounces)
  • Designer: David Watkins
  • Obverse Design: Nike with Panathinaiko Stadium in the background
  • Reverse Design: The River Thames and the London Games logo with angled lines in the background
  • Composition of Gold Medal: 92.5% silver, 6.16% copper, 1.34% gold
  • Composition of Silver Medal: 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
  • Composition of Bronze Medal: 97% copper, 0.5% tin, 2.5% zinc

The metals used to make the medals were supplied by Rio Tinto and was mined at their Kennecott Utah Copper Mine and Oyu Tolgol project in Mongolia.

Here is the CNN Money report about the making of the medals by the Royal Mint:

Image of the London 2012 Olympic Medals courtesy of London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Video courtesy of CNN Money

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