Former great gymnast Nadia Comaneci believes that, with the three coins issued by the National Bank of Romania on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of obtaining the first 10 at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976, her 'treasure trove' of 9 medals won at the Olympics has increased.

'These coins represent a complete circle for me that I would add to the five Olympic rings that define the Olympics. We are celebrating 50 years since the historic 10th achieved together with a team and all my colleagues are here. Even though we were alone on the apparatus, we were a whole team and I considered them my sisters. Every time I remember that in difficult moments, each one said to the other, 'be strong, it will be fine'. It is a huge honor for me to receive these coins and I add them to the nine medals I have from the Olympics and then the treasure grows', declared Nadia Comaneci on Thursday, on the occasion of the launch of the three anniversary coins, gold, silver and tombac.

The Governor of the National Bank, Mugur Isărescu, stated on this occasion that for 50 years, for Romanians, perfection has borne the name of Nadia Comăneci: 'Today, the National Bank has the institutional privilege of celebrating the Nadia Comăneci Year and each of us has the pleasure of paying homage to performance in its perfect form. For 50 years, for Romanians, perfection has had a name, Nadia.'

The former great athlete stated that she will keep the three coins that capture the moment of receiving the 10 mark alongside the medals won in her career.

'I used to collect coins as a souvenir when I was a child, and now my son has a whole collection and when I get home I will show them to him. I will display them for a while, then I will put them in the safe, next to the Olympic medals. I have not yet had the chance to see them in detail. This reunion is a celebration of Romanian sports and a motivation for today's generation, to understand the importance of sports and the possibilities it gives you to sail around the world,' added Nadia Comaneci.

The event organized at the headquarters of the National Bank of Romania was attended by the president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Mihai Covaliu, the president of the European Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, presidents of sports federations in Romania, athletes and former gymnasts, colleagues of the same generation as Nadia Comaneci.

The National Bank of Romania launched, on Thursday, in the numismatic circuit, a gold coin, a silver coin and a copper-plated tombac coin with the theme of 50 years since obtaining the first 10 in the history of the Olympic Games in the women's gymnastics event.

The obverse of the gold coin features gymnast Nadia Comaneci at the end of her exercise, the inscription 'ROMANIA' in an arc, the face value '100 LEI', the year of issue '2026' and the coat of arms of Romania.

The obverse of the silver coin features gymnast Nadia Comaneci at the end of the exercise, the inscription 'ROMANIA' in an arc, the face value '10 LEI', the year of issue '2026' and the coat of arms of Romania.

The obverse of the copper-plated tombac coin features gymnast Nadia Comaneci at the end of her exercise, the inscription 'ROMANIA' in an arc, the face value '1 LEU', the year of issue '2026' and the coat of arms of Romania.

The common reverse of the gold, silver and copper-plated tombac coins features Nadia Comaneci performing the uneven bars exercise, the gymnast's number and score displayed on the official electronic scoreboard, the inscriptions 'FIRST SCORE OF 10', 'MONTREAL 1976' and 'NADIA COMANECI', all in an arc.

The gold, silver and cuprous tombac coins are packaged in transparent methacrylate capsules and are accompanied by presentation brochures and certificates of authenticity, written in Romanian, English and French. The certificates of authenticity bear the signatures of the Governor of the National Bank of Romania and the Central Cashier.

The approved mintages for this numismatic issue are 200 pieces for gold coins, 1,000 pieces for silver coins and 2,000 pieces for copper tombac coins.

The selling prices are: 7,800 lei, including VAT, for the gold coin, including the presentation booklet and the certificate of authenticity; 1,000 lei, including VAT, for the silver coin, including the presentation booklet and the certificate of authenticity; 280 lei, including VAT, for the copper tombac coin, including the presentation booklet and the certificate of authenticity.

The gold, silver and copper-plated tombac coins with the theme of 50 years since the first 10 in the history of the Olympic Games in the women's gymnastics event have circulation power on the territory of Romania.AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Adrian Tone, editing by: Mihai Tenea;EN - writing by: Catalin Cristian Trandafir)