2012 Olympic medals go into production...

The medals for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games have gone just into production at the Royal Mint headquarters in Llantrisant, South Wales.

They will produce around 4,700 medals which will be awarded during the 805 Victory Ceremonies taking place at venues across the UK during the Games.
Taking around ten hours in total to complete, each medal will be struck fifteen times with 900 tonnes of weight on a special press. After each first five strikes the medals are slowly rolled through a 750 degree furnace to soften the metal allowing the designs to be replicated perfectly.

Hopefully, a few might be heading this way after the games! ;o)