50 Rufiyaa XXVI Summer Olympics

The 1996 Atlanta Games prompted a wave of commemorative issues from nations with no athletic connection to the event whatsoever, and the Maldives was among them. Struck in .500 fine silver rather than the .925 standard preferred by most commemorative programs of the period, this issue reflects a deliberate cost-cutting choice that kept the coin accessible for the souvenir market without sacrificing the prestige of a silver attribution.