How much would you pay for an Olympic medal? A buyer has paid €154,140, or £134,220 (including buyer's premium) for a silver medal awarded at the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens 1896. The medal was sold at an online auction in Denmark, by the auction house Bruun Rasmussen Arts Auctioneers.
The initial asking price was around DKK 200,000-300,000 (€26,770), but rose to DKK 900,000, or € 120,422, excluding buyer's premium, and over 150 thousand euros, and over one million Danish kroners, with buyer's premium. "The Olympic medal represents a 'unicorn' among international collectors — a rare fusion of Olympic and cultural history", said Christian Grundtvig, Head of the Coins and Stamps Department at Bruun Rasmussen.
Three times its estimated value for an authentic silver medal from the 1896 Olympics, held in Athens, with 14 countries participating, including Denmark. The athlete who won this medal is unknown, but some speculate it could have belonged to Viggo Jensen, Denmark's first Olympic champion in weightlifting.
The medal, engraved by French artist Jules-Clément Chaplain, features a laureate head of the Greek god Zeus holding a globe, upon which the Goddess of Victory, Nike, stands with an olive branch. The reverse shows the Acropolis rock with the Parthenon and the Greek inscription "Διεθνείς Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες - Αθήναι 1896".