# Value of Olympic Medals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522 "2006-02-14T20:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/1 "2006-02-14T20:30:57Z")
In terms of value strictly from a metallic standpoint, how much are gold, silver and bronze Olympics medals worth? ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/2 "2006-02-14T21:22:11Z")
I’ll try to get some more info for you later, but my understanding is all the medals are made up of silver, with the gold medal being silver plated with gold, the bronze medal being plated with bronze and the silver medal being pure (well, alloyed to some slight degree) silver. Now, if we just had the weight of the medals and the current price of silver, we’d be 1/3 of the way home. We’d also need to know how much gold and how much bronze was put on the other medals, too. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/3 "2006-02-14T21:23:37Z")
Right on the gold, not on the bronze. I think the bronze medals are a 90-10 copper-zinc mix. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/4 "2006-02-14T22:03:49Z")
OK, **cmkeller** , looks like that is correct. Serves me right for going from memory. [This site](http://2002.uen.org/html/medals.html) has the weights, compositions, and amount of gold plating for the gold medal. One caveat: It is for the 2002 Winter Games, not 2006. I don’t know if things have changed since, but as we can see from the above, assume nothing in answering a GQ! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/5 "2006-02-15T15:53:04Z")
I found the overall metal prices for the medals awarded at the '04 Athens games [here:](http://news.myway.com/odd/article/id/423344%7Coddlyenough%7C08-25-2004::08:45%7Creuters.html) > [@](#): > > At approximately $400,000 for the metal content of the 3,000 Athens medals alone, it may be just a drop in the Aegean Sea compared to an estimated $8.6 billion total Games cost. > [@](#): > > Not counting labor, the metal content alone for the Athens medals comes to more than $400,000, and the gold medals are not even pure gold. Not that the International Olympic Committee was considering solid gold medals – the last medals of pure gold were awarded in Stockholm in 1912. Using the metal prices listed for the Athens summer games and the medal compositions listed in **LiveOnAPlane** ’s cite for the '02 winter games, I come up with the following rough figures: Gold metal - $243.00 Silver medal - $185.00 Bronze medal - $2.00 To translate that to the 2006 winter games we’d have to know specific compositions and metal prices. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/6 "2006-02-15T16:48:39Z")
Isn’t the medal design always different? I’m thinking of an Olympics several years ago where the medals seemed to be at least half glass/crystal. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/7 "2006-02-15T16:52:42Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Isn’t the medal design always different? I’m thinking of an Olympics several years ago where the medals seemed to be at least half glass/crystal. Yes, each games has its own medal design. The Turin medals look like “golden donuts.” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/8 "2006-02-15T16:54:24Z")
Torino toruses, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/9 "2006-02-15T16:57:01Z")
I think you’re forgetting to factor in the value of the chocolate inside, **Doc**. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/10 "2006-02-15T16:58:14Z")
Hawking your 2006 Turin Winter Olympics gold medal at the local pawn shop for some quick cash: $243. Winning it in the first place: Priceless. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/11 "2006-02-15T18:48:37Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Torino toruses, in other words. Hmm… perhaps this is the missing item from that 1920’s… oh never mind… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/12 "2006-02-15T20:54:42Z")
While Olympic medals may have an intrinsic value with respect to the metallic value, can Olympic medals be bought and sold like any other commodity? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/13 "2006-02-15T20:59:01Z")
To be specific, the WINTER Olympics medals have a different design each time. The Summer Olympics medals always look the same, except for details like the date and location. The half glass/crystal medals were from Albertville 1992, another Winter games. Ed ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/14 "2006-02-15T21:25:10Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > While Olympic medals may have an intrinsic value with respect to the metallic value, can Olympic medals be bought and sold like any other commodity? They end up in auctions and pawn shops regularly. Some people collect them. A FOAFOAF has a goal of getting one medal from every Games since 1904. He has at least one from most years. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/15 "2006-02-15T23:05:40Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > I think you’re forgetting to factor in the value of the chocolate inside, **Doc**. > > –Cliffy Nah, why do you think the bronze is worth $2.00 instead of 0.75? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/16 "2006-02-15T23:36:11Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > can Olympic medals be bought and sold like any other commodity? Olympic medals are by no means a commodity. They are neither commonly available nor are they fungible. But like **friedo** says, they are bought and sold and there’s nothing untoward about that (except in that it’s depressing). –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/17 "2006-02-16T01:42:48Z")
What would it be worth if you retrieved Mohammed Ali’s Gold Medal, which was thrown into the Mississippi river? And, besides that, how come nobody ever went looking for it? Just thought I’d ask. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/18 "2006-02-16T01:46:48Z")
Are they individualized in any way, either with the name of the winner or the event? If I came across a medal in a pawn shop, would I be able to tell (or figure out somehow) that it had been Mark Spitz’s? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-olympic-medals/344522/19 "2006-02-16T04:00:10Z")
That’d be the Ohio River, Bob, I mean, Elbows.