100 Euros Knossos

Issued as part of Greece's broader numismatic program tied to the 2004 Athens Olympics, this piece draws on the Minoan palace complex at Knossos — excavated beginning in 1900 by Arthur Evans, whose controversial reconstructions using reinforced concrete remain disputed by archaeologists to this day. Evans essentially rebuilt much of what visitors now see, making the site as much Victorian interpretation as Bronze Age relic.

The .999 fineness is notably purer than the .900 gold standard common to most Greek commemorative issues of the preceding decades.