A possible Olympic gold medal in swimming from the Berlin 1936 Games and a bronze from the Atlanta 1996 Games were both sold at auction this week for a total of almost $50,000 by RR Auction.
The two were among a huge lot of Olympic memorabilia put on sale by the auction house. The 1936 Olympic gold medal sold for $43,161 and was accompanied by an autograph of Dutch swimmer Rie Mastenbroek, who won three gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games – though the auction lot doesn’t explicitly declare it as one of her medals.
The 1996 bronze medals old for $6,646. That medal was an unawarded medal from the swimming events, meaning that it was held for possible ties that never came.
Among other items that sold in the latest lot include a winners medal from the Athens 1896 Olympic Games (which was silver for the 1896 Games) for $111,060; a 2nd-place medal in original box from the 1896 Olympic Games (bronze at the time) for $55,000; and Cuban boxer Roniel Iglesias’ Olympic gold medal from 2012 for $83,188.
While Olympic medals of all varieties have immense value when they are auctioned, those that can be ascribed to a specific athlete’s performance generally earn higher prices at auction. Unawarded medals are generally less-valuable. The most famous example of a swimming medal for sale is that of Anthony Ervin, who in 2005 auctioned off his 2000 Olympic gold medal in the 50 free to raise money for the Tsunami Relief Fund. His medal sold for $17,100.
Did the guy who won Ervin’s auction give it back to him or am I totally making that up?