How Much Gold and Silver is in Olympic Medals?
2024 Paris Olympic medals.
cnn.com
As most people realize, the gold medals handed out to the winners of the competitions in this year’s Olympic games were not made of solid gold. The August 2024 edition of Silver News, published by The Silver Institute, provides the actual metal content of the Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medals.
According to the International Olympic Committee, gold medals were made of solid gold through 1912. The gold medals for this year’s winners contain 523 grams of sterling silver (.925 fineness) coated with six grams of pure gold. On a troy-ounce basis, the gold content is 0.0192926 of an ounce, and the silver content is 15.5555 ounces. At current prices, the metal value of the gold medals exceeds $500.
The Olympic silver medals are made of 525 grams of sterling silver, meaning a content of about 15.615 troy ounces of silver. That currently has a metal value of around $460.
The Olympic bronze medals weigh 455 grams and are made of copper, tin, and zinc. Their metal value is less than $5.
The 2024 Olympic medals also contain a one-time additional ingredient: an 18-gram piece of iron saved during past renovations of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Obviously, these medals are worth far more to the athletes who earned them than the intrinsic value of their metal content. Olympic medals that come onto the market also have significant collector value beyond the metals they are made from.
The August 2024 issue of Silver News includes other reports on developing industrial uses for silver. This issue covers the use of silver to protect bee colonies, a silver-infused fabric that lowers the temperature of the cloth, a silver paint for projection surfaces to enhance the display of 3D images, and the use of silver electrodes to manufacture propane and ethylene from carbon dioxide.
Answer to the Previous Trivia Question
Last week, I asked: How many 1849 $20 Liberty double eagles exist?
1849 $20 Liberty Double Eagle
No one knows for sure. Researchers acknowledge that several specimens were struck. There is definitely at least one specimen of this pattern coin – at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It is possible that Philadelphia coin dealer Stephen K. Nagy, Jr. (1884-1958) may have handled another specimen, as it is alleged that it was photographed as part of his estate holdings. This piece, if it survived and comes onto the numismatic market, would undoubtedly be one of the most valuable of all coins. There may even be more than two survivors. The modern replicas and reproductions of the 1849 $20 Liberty have little to no value.
This Week’s Trivia Question
What was the highest number to be used as the denomination of a national currency?
Come back next week for the answer.
Patrick A. Heller was honored as a 2019 FUN Numismatic Ambassador. He also received the American Numismatic Association 2018 Glenn Smedley Memorial Service Award, the 2017 Exemplary Service Award, the 2012 Harry Forman National Dealer of the Year Award, and the 2008 Presidential Award. Over the years, he has also been honored by the Numismatic Literary Guild (including twice in 2020), the Professional Numismatists Guild, the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, and the Michigan State Numismatic Society. He is the communications officer of Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Mich., and writes “Liberty’s Outlook,” a monthly newsletter on rare coins and precious metals subjects. Past newsletter issues can be viewed at www.libertycoinservice.com. Some of his radio commentaries, "Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So,” and “Important News You Need To Know,” can be heard at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday and Friday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio archives posted at www.1320wils.com).
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