1896 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL SELLS FOR $94,302 AT AUCTION

By: Gyang Dakwo

A gold medal from the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 has sold for about $94,302 after drawing strong interest at a Danish auction.

The Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen Arts Auctioneers said the medal more than tripled its estimated value. The medal was sold for 900,000 DKK, which is about $94,302, and it is one of the medals from the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896.

“The Olympic medal represents a ‘unicorn’ among international collectors – a rare fusion of Olympic and cultural history. … It is, without doubt, one of the most remarkable sales within the field of numismatics in the history of our auction house,” Christian Grundtvig, head of the coins and stamps department at Bruun Rasmussen, said in a release announcing the auction.

The first modern Olympic Games took place in April 1896 and featured 241 athletes from 14 nations who competed in 43 events. However, the auction house said it could not confirm the winner who originally received the medal.

It was also the first time Bruun Rasmussen offered a medal from the 1896 Games, and that made the sale even more special for collectors.

The medal was engraved by French artist Jules-Clément Chaplain. The front shows a laureate head of the Greek god Zeus holding a globe, and the Goddess of Victory, Nike, stands on the globe with an olive branch. The back shows the Acropolis rock and the Parthenon, along with a Greek inscription referring to the International Olympic Games in Athens.

The sale highlights the lasting value of Olympic history, and it shows how rare items from the early Games continue to attract global attention.