Portugal · Participation of the Portuguese Team in the Rio 2016 Games

Issue date3 May 2016

Total mintage513,509

EU maximum650,000

Editions3

Edge lettering5 Wappenschilde + 7 castles, evenly distributed

InscriptionJOANA VASCONCELOS / EQUIPA OLÍMPICA DE PORTUGAL 2016 / INCM

DesignerJoana Vasconcelos

mintImprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda S.A., Lisboa

Issue occasion

The coin commemorates the participation of the Portuguese team in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The design features the Viana heart by the artist Joana Vasconcelos, inspired by the traditional jewellery art of northern Portugal, as a symbol of the Portuguese population’s support for the Olympic team. Arranged in a semicircle are the inscriptions “JOANA VASCONCELOS” and “EQUIPA OLÍMPICA DE PORTUGAL 2016”.

The design

The design features a depiction of the famous Viana Heart by the artist Joana Vasconcelos, inspired by the traditional jewelry art of northern Portugal (the region around Viana do Castelo). It symbolizes the support of the Portuguese population for the Olympic team. The inscriptions “JOANA VASCONCELOS” and “EQUIPA OLÍMPICA DE PORTUGAL 2016” can be seen in a semicircle on the left and right sides, respectively. The mint mark “INCM” is located at the bottom.

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.

Background on the topic

The 2016 Summer Olympics took place in Rio de Janeiro from 5 to 21 August. They were the first Olympic Games in South America. Portugal has been among the regular participating nations since its debut at the Stockholm Games in 1912. The 1909-founded Portugiesisches Olympisches Komitee is responsible for sending and supporting the team.

In Rio, Portugal competed in several sports, including athletics, judo, canoeing, sailing and football. The judoka Telma Monteiro won a bronze medal in the up to 57-kilogram weight class. The coin was issued several months before the competitions began and was therefore not intended as a retrospective of sporting results. Rather, it accompanied the preparation and dispatch of the delegation.

The Heart of Viana derives from a form of goldsmithing widespread in the northern Portuguese region of Minho. It is characterised by the filigree processing of thin gold or silver wires into delicate ornaments. The heart shape was originally religious in character and associated with the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Later, it was also used as a piece of jewellery and as a sign of personal affection. Today, it is closely associated with Viana do Castelo and regional festival costumes.

Joana Vasconcelos, born in Paris in 1971 and raised in Portugal, works primarily with sculptures and large-scale installations. In her works, she frequently incorporates everyday objects as well as techniques such as crochet, embroidery and ceramics. Traditional forms are enlarged, transferred into other materials or placed in new contexts. She achieved international recognition, among other things, through exhibitions in major European museums and Portugal’s contribution to the 2013 Venice Biennale (Biennale von Venedig).

The choice of the heart motif thus connected Olympic sport not with a single discipline or a specific athlete, but with a universally comprehensible form and a Portuguese craft tradition. At the same time, the issue was given a contemporary connection through the work of a contemporary artist.