The Olympic Games began in ancient Olympia when warring city states put down their weapons to compete in sports

and the two weeks of the Olympic Games is a time when people forget their differences and come together in the

spirit of competition and friendship. In the Ancient Games, winners were not presented with gold medals but

were given a sacred branch of wild olive. During these times, there were not only athletic contests but poets,

artists, historians and orators also competed against each other. The Games were abolished by the Romans in 393

AD and it was not until 1896 that the modern Olympics were resurrected in the form we know today. King George I

officially launched the modern Olympics in Athens on 25th March that year. The two coins issued by the British

Virgin Islands carry designs which reflect the Ancient Games. Both crowns depict portraits of bronze heads of

athletes. The Boy Victor is shown on the first coin with running figures and the Athenian Owl in the

background. The second coin portrays a Charioteer with a second charioteer racing in the background. A gold

medal similar to the first medals of the modern Olympic Games showing the head of Zeus with Nike is also shown.