Reasonable price for an Olympic medal (G/S/B not participation)

[Michael B]

North of $7,000 is a fair estimate. A few will sell for slightly less,but I would use that as your general starting point. Most Summer games medals will be less than the comparable medal for the winter games as there are less medals awarded during the winter games. Bronze is usually least expensive with silver next and gold, but it is not necessarily exponential. A medal that can be associated with a specific sport may carry a greater cachet. Most medals since at least 1996 have had the event engraved on the edge. 1968 medals had a small icon attached to the ribbon denoting the sport. Prior to that it is impossible to tell what event unless there is solid provenance. Winners medals prior to 1960 had NO ribbon or chain. The first ones to have them were 1960 which had very nice chains which looked like Olive leaves. 1972 had simple gold chains with an eyelet that screwed into the top of the medal.

Steer clear of 2008, 2012 and 2016 medals as reproductions are being made and sold on the bay for less than $100.00. Jostens also made samples of 1984 medals in a stand up wood and glass case, but they are not anywhere as valuable as an awarded medal.

Your best bet on a medal is one of the Olympic auction houses - Ingrid O'Neil from California, Ulf Strom from Sweden and Wolfgang Fuhr (AGON Sportsworld) in Germany. RR Auctions has had some winners medals in their last two Olympics auctions and a few were rather affordable. You can contact me if you would like to contact any of them. I can also contact a few people privately to see what they have for sale. I know a few collectors/dealers who may have one for sale.

[bbcard1]

As timing would have it, there's an interesting story on Money today about that very subject....

http://time.com/money/4418118/olympi.../?xid=homepage

[Michael B]

The article is a bit misleading regarding the USOC paying for winning a medal. They are known to pay for any medal won. I believe it was $25/15/10,000 or $25/10/5,000. However, if an athlete is still in high school or college and want to retain their eligibility they cannot accept the check. If you are someone like Missy Franklin or Katie Ladecki who was still in high school when you won your medal and your parents could not afford the just about guaranteed $100,000+ scholarship/education you would receive from a top school you turn it down.

This is also true with any endorsements or advertising. A good example is the 1998 Women's ice hockey team. Not all of the members of the team were on the Wheaties Box. The five who were still in college or high school did not appear on the box - Sara DeCosta (Providence College), Sarah Tueting (Dartmouth), Tara Mounsey (Brown), Jenny Schmidgall (UMinn/Duluth) and Angela Ruggiero (Choate Rosemary Hall)

[drcy]

I bet you could get a bronze for a thousand. Just a guess. I look at Olympic stuff in passing, am no expert.

My related story is, I'm a former track runner and like track stuff, and won for the minimum bid of $9.99 a 1950s German track medal on eBay. I showed it to my dad and, after looking closely at it, he said "This looks like an award setting a world's record." I translated the German inscription and, sure enough, it was given to a Russian hurdler for setting the world's record at the meet. Something I entirely missed. Raised the value by a factor of about 30x.

[CW]

Another AH to watch is Heritage. They've auctioned off multiple medals of different types over the years. They're currently auctioning off some Olympic stuff, although I don't think it's exactly what you're looking for, John.

[1952boyntoncollector]

you could also get one for free...all you have to do is qualify for the olympics and come in at least third in an event

some girl won a sharpshooting contest at 100m today..19 years old and won the gold for the U.S....but all you would have to do is come in third..

that looks easier than going the basketball route ie. going to NBA, being good enough and go on U.S. Men's Team and winning the gold at the olympics...or perhaps playing for a country you think will come in 3rd and changing citizenship to that team as it will be easier to make than the U.S. Team

and all that saves you the 10k etc..

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

you could also get one for free...all you have to do is qualify for the olympics and come in at least third in an event

some girl won a sharpshooting contest at 100m today..19 years old and won the gold for the U.S....but all you would have to do is come in third..

that looks easier than going the basketball route ie. going to NBA, being good enough and go on U.S. Men's Team and winning the gold at the olympics...or perhaps playing for a country you think will come in 3rd and changing citizenship to that team as it will be easier to make than the U.S. Team

and all that saves you the 10k etc..

Never participated in a competitive sport have you Jake? Trust me the $10k would be much easier.

Also it really depressed me when they let paid professionals compete in the Olympics.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

you could also get one for free...all you have to do is qualify for the olympics and come in at least third in an event

some girl won a sharpshooting contest at 100m today..19 years old and won the gold for the U.S....but all you would have to do is come in third..

that looks easier than going the basketball route ie. going to NBA, being good enough and go on U.S. Men's Team and winning the gold at the olympics...or perhaps playing for a country you think will come in 3rd and changing citizenship to that team as it will be easier to make than the U.S. Team

and all that saves you the 10k etc..

This comment shows a complete lack of understanding of this sport and most Olympic sports. Virginia Thrasher from here in Springfield, VA, the same town I live, did not just pick up a gun and say "I want to go to the Olympics". She won a gold medal in 10 meter air rifle. That requires hitting a target the size of a dime from 32 feet 10 inches consistently. To be this good you need to fire THOUSANDS of rounds each year. Those are not free. You also need a specialized handmade rifle that is built for your body which costs thousands of dollars. You also need to have a shooting range, not free. There is also a coach, psychologist and possibly a physical trainer. You then must compete in enough sanctioned International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) competitions to qualify. Local competitions and national championships are not enough. Travel to other countries to compete is necessary and USA Shooting cannot completely fund every athlete for all of their expenses. Winning the NCAA championship this year, which she did, does not qualify her for the Olympics either.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the idea. I could do this for every Olympic sport.