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DEFECTIVE OLYMPIC MEDALS REPLACEDThe International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be working with the Monnaie de Paris (the French state mint) to replace defective medals as they are requested. -Garrett 
The mint in France responsible for producing medals for the 2024 Summer Olympics will replace some of the hardware given out to athletes following complaints of deterioration in the medal varnish. Reports of medal degradation began even before the Olympics ended; U.S. skateboarder Nyjah Huston posted photos on his Instagram of his bronze medal, showing discoloration on the surface. The medals were designed by Chaumet, a French luxury jewelry and watch brand, and created by Monnaie de Paris, the French mint. They include preserved pieces of iron from the original Eiffel Tower, which were put into storage after renovations in the 20th century. "Monnaie de Paris has taken the issue of damaged medals very seriously since the first exchange requests in August, mobilizing its internal teams," Monnaie de Paris said in a statement. "Monnaie de Paris modified the varnish and optimized its manufacturing process to make it more resistant to certain uses of the medals by athletes." The replacement of damaged medals has been initiated in liaison with the IOC and the Paris 2024 organizing committee. Monnaie de Paris said the medals would be replaced during the first quarter of 2025. France created 2,600 medals for the Olympics and 2,400 medals for the Paralympics, but Monnaie de Paris declined to say how many will be replaced.
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A different article contains quotes from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Monnaie de Paris (the French state Mint). -Garrett French website La Lettre found that there have been more than 100 requests from Olympic and Paralympic athletes from across the world to replace their medals. However, they will be replaced with identical models, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told AFP. "The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organising Committee is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris (the French state mint), the institution responsible for the manufacture and quality control of the medals, to assess any complaints about the medals and to understand the circumstances and cause of any damage," the IOC said. "Defective medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved identically. "The replacement process should begin in the coming weeks." 
When contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for the Monnaie de Paris refuted the term "defective" and said that the medals signalled by athletes as being "damaged" since the month of August have already been replaced. "We have replaced all the damaged medals since August and we will continue to do so in the same professional manner as before," said the spokesperson, adding that replacements were "underway" and were being made "as requests come in." I found it interesting how Monnaie de Paris carefully worded their description of the replaced medals as "damaged" versus "defective." -Editor
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Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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