Olympic gold medals - SMP Silver Salon Forums

SM Publications

Silver Salon Forums - The premier site for discussing Silver.

SMP | Silver Salon Forums | SSF - Guidelines | SSF - FAQ | Silver Sales

The Silver Salon Forums
Since 1993
Over 11,793 threads & 64,769 posts !!

General Silver Forum

Silver Salon internal search
or

REGISTER (click here)

How to Post Photos

SMP Silver Salon Forums
tline

General Silver Forum
tline3

Olympic gold medals

profile | register | preferences | faq | search

SSFFriend: Email This Page to Someone!

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Author	Topic: Olympic gold medals
June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 Registered: Apr 93	posted 05-24-2012 12:48 PM [01-3027] The gold medals to be handed out this summer in London will weigh 400 grams (14 ounces), more than twice as heavy as the average of the previous five games and almost 17 times heavier than at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. But the gold medals awarded in 1912 actually were made entirely of gold. Now they consist mainly of silver with a thin coat of gold. The International Olympic Committee stipulates that gold medals must have a 92.5% minimum silver content and contain at least six grams of gold. In London, copper will make up the rest. For the first time ever, the silver in this year's gold medal is actually worth more than the gold content. If the metal content of earlier medals is valued at today's bullion prices, the London gold is worth just over half of those handed out in 1912. IP: Logged
chase33 Posts: 362 Registered: Feb 2008	posted 05-24-2012 08:34 PM Very interesting, June. Thanks for the info. I had just assumed the gold medals were made of gold. Of course this leads to the next question: are the silver medals made entirely of silver or some combination? And what about the bronze medals? IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 05-24-2012 09:48 PM The composition of Olympic metals is sterling for the gold and silver with the gold metal plated with at least 6 grams of gold. The bronze metal is an alloy of copper and tin. Gold, silver and bronze metals started at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. They were held at my alma mater (sometime before I was there) and occurred in the same year as the World’s Fair. It was a great year for St. Louis. [This message has been edited by ahwt (edited 05-24-2012).] IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 07-27-2012 08:43 PM This user comment was posted on the JCKonline.com article about the composition of Olympic medals: quote: I found this out completely by accident. A customers who is the parent of a multi-medaled Olympian brought in the medals to be polished....Yikes...the gold plating that they overlay the "gold" medals with rubbed right off. Had to replate it, Honestly I was so very disheartened....so was my unsuspecting customer! C'mon Olympic Committee for all that effort the athletes deserve the real thing! Not sure about the method used by the jewelers who posted this to polish the medals, or whether they understood that the medals were merely gold-plated, but the comment does point out that items made of silver (even if they are gilt) will tarnish, whereas a solid gold medal would not tarnish. Some people seem quite upset that the "gold" metals are only plated. Wonder if the Olympic athletes care more about the intrinsic value or symbolic value of the medals. [This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 07-27-2012).] IP: Logged
jersey Posts: 1203 Registered: Feb 2005	posted 07-27-2012 09:21 PM The reason of having it not be made of real gold is the current price of gold. That said, Having seen & held one personally, according to the Gold medal winter Olympian I know, truth be told they don't care about the metal content, they are just thrilled to have one. Just as an FYI, my friend is in London right now for the 2012 Olympics as her family friend is Captain of the USA men's Water polo team. So if you all would, please cheer them on!!!! Much appreciated! Jersey IP: Logged

All times are ET	next newest topic \| next oldest topic
Administrative Options: Close Topic \| Archive/Move \| Delete Topic
	Hop to:

Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.46a

^1. Public Silver Forums (open Free membership) - anyone with a valid e-mail address may register. Once you have received your Silver Salon Forum password, and then if you abide by the Silver Salon Forum Guidelines, you may start a thread or post a reply in the New Members' Forum. New Members who show a continued willingness to participate, to completely read and abide by the Guidelines will be allowed to post to the Member Public Forums.
Click here to Register for a Free password

^2. Private Silver Salon Forums (invitational or $ donation membership) - The Private Silver Salon Forums require registration and special authorization to view, search, start a thread or to post a reply. Special authorization can be obtained in one of several ways: by Invitation; Annual $ Donation; or via Special Limited Membership. For more details click here (under development).

^3. Administrative/Special Private Forums (special membership required) - These forums are reserved for special subjects or administrative discussion. These forums are not open to the public and require special authorization to view or post.

| Home | Order | The Guide to Evaluating Gold & Silver Objects | The Book of Silver