As every Olympic athlete knows, size matters. The London 2012 medals are the largest ever in terms of both weight and diameter – almost double the medals from Beijing. However, just as equally well-known is that quality beats quantity and that is where the current global austerity, coin-clipping, devaluation-fest begins.
The 2012 gold is 92.5 percent silver, 6.16 copper and… 1.34 percent gold, with IOC rules specifying that it must contain 550 grams of high-quality silver and a whopping 6 grams of gold. The resulting medallion is worth about $500.
For the silver medal, the gold is replaced with more copper, for a $260 bill of materials.
The bronze medal is 97 percent copper, 2.5 percent zinc and 0.5 percent tin. Valued at about $3, you might be able to trade one for a bag of chips in Olympic park if you skip the fish.
Though Olympic gold is no longer 100 percent gold, a medal can still fetch big money. In 2010, a gold medal worn by Mark Wells, a member of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. men’s hockey team, was auctioned off for $310,700. Several years before that, Wells had sold his medal to cover medical expenses. Just before the auction, the medal was valued at $100,000 but it earned three times that amount. Heritage Auctions of Dallas identified the 2010 buyer as a rancher from the western U.S.
The 2012 gold is 92.5 percent silver, 6.16 copper and… 1.34 percent gold, with IOC rules specifying that it must contain 550 grams of high-quality silver and a whopping 6 grams of gold. The resulting medallion is worth about $500.
For the silver medal, the gold is replaced with more copper, for a $260 bill of materials.
The bronze medal is 97 percent copper, 2.5 percent zinc and 0.5 percent tin. Valued at about $3, you might be able to trade one for a bag of chips in Olympic park if you skip the fish.
Though Olympic gold is no longer 100 percent gold, a medal can still fetch big money. In 2010, a gold medal worn by Mark Wells, a member of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. men’s hockey team, was auctioned off for $310,700. Several years before that, Wells had sold his medal to cover medical expenses. Just before the auction, the medal was valued at $100,000 but it earned three times that amount. Heritage Auctions of Dallas identified the 2010 buyer as a rancher from the western U.S.
