Four Host First Nations Medallion

The Vancouver Sun runs a sidebar in its Road to 2010 weekly feature called Collectors' Corner ... and it seems tailor-made for this blog. Enjoy.

What: Four Host Nations 2006 Winter Games Medallion

Value: $50 US plus.

History: One of the most unusual pieces of 2010 Winter Games memorabilia, this medallion was produced by the Four Host First Nations and VANOC as a "witnessing" emblem to be distributed only at the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Turnin Winter Games.

VANOC and the four nations on whose traditional territory the Games are being held were part of a six-minute segment in Turin's closing ceremonies.

According to Tewanee Joseph, the executive director of the Four Host Nations Secretariat, about 32,000 of the brass-coloured pewter medallions were produced and distributed to spectators who attended the ceremonies in Turin's Stadio Olympico.

On one side of the medallion are four faces representing the four nations of Lil'wat, Musqueaum, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh. Although more of these medallions were produced than most retail pins, they are relatively hard to find.