The bronze is only worth £3 and the gold is 92 per cent silver… What the Olympic medals are actually made of
What the winning medals are actually made from (and what they’re worth) might come as a surprise
WINNING gold at the Olympics may seem like the ultimate prize – but the medal itself is actually worth significantly less than you might think.
While the sentimental values of a winning medal are undeniable and to the winning athlete their prize is likely irreplaceable, what the medals are actually made from (and what they’re worth if you melted them down and sold them to a dealer) might come as a surprise.
First of all, the Olympic gold medals aren’t predominantly gold.
Modern day gold medals are comprised of 92.5 per cent silver and just 1.34 per cent gold - with copper filling in the rest.
However, according to the Olympic committee, each first place medal must contain at least six grams of gold in the plating – but this does pale in comparison to the 525 grams of silver contained within in the rest of the prize.
What’s more, a 2016 gold medal is only worth around $500 (£387), given the current market.
However, once upon a time Olympic golds were made of solid gold – but this hasn’t been the case since the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden.
Silver lives up to its name more than the gold. Each of the 812 silver medals produced this year contain 500 grams of sterling silver; with a podium value is about $305 (£236).
The 864 bronze medals up for grabs in Rio this year contain 475 grams of copper a piece (95 per cent) and 25 grams of zinc (5 per cent) and have little monetary value.
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In the past, this zinc mixture contained in the bronze medallions might technically have fallen under the category of brass - but by contemporary standards, it now counts as bronze.
However, since bronze is prone to become corroded over time, those currently-shiny Olympic prizes could develop a greenish discolouration over time - unless their winners take extra care of them.
Depending on market fluctuations and given their 475 gram weight, a bronze medal might only fetch around £2-3 if you were to sell the melted down product.
But, if it's any consolation, Olympic winners at Rio can at least feel good knowing that all the Olympic medals were manufactured sustainably for the 2016 games.
According to the official Olympics site, this means that each of the 864 bronze medals contain 30 percent recycled materials, and the neck ribbons are made mostly from recycled plastic bottles.
Interestingly, according to the Brazilian mint, they were able to harvest raw materials for the bronze from their own industrial waste.
So, while the third place medals don’t have a large financial value, they didn’t cost the environment much either…