Andorra began issuing collector coinage in the early 1980s largely because it had no central bank and no domestic monetary tradition to speak of — the principality had circulated French and Spanish currency for centuries without minting its own. The Olympic series of the late 1980s was part of a deliberate push to generate revenue through numismatic exports ahead of the Barcelona 1992 Games, to which Andorra sent a delegation for the first time.
Joan Martí i Alanis served as Bishop of Urgell — and therefore Co-Prince of Andorra — from 1971 until his death in 2009, making him one of the longest-serving co-princes in the principality's modern history.
Andorra began issuing collector coinage in the early 1980s largely because it had no central bank and no domestic monetary tradition to speak of — the principality had circulated French and Spanish currency for centuries without minting its own. The Olympic series of the late 1980s was part of a deliberate push to generate revenue through numismatic exports ahead of the Barcelona 1992 Games, to which Andorra sent a delegation for the first time.
Joan Martí i Alanis served as Bishop of Urgell — and therefore Co-Prince of Andorra — from 1971 until his death in 2009, making him one of the longest-serving co-princes in the principality's modern history.