According to Jake Towne:
At current market prices, a gold medal is exchangeable for about $494, a silver for about $260, and a bronze for just $3. If the gold medal was solid gold with the same mass, it would be exchangeable for almost $20,000.
What an insult. Don’t they deserve to receive the real deal instead of fake, debased substitutes?
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Have they ever received the real deal?
I would think that since the medals are commemorative awards, as opposed to valuable/cash prizes, the answer should be no.
Savvy Olympians are able to parlay their gold medals into much more than $20K. It wouldn’t make much sense to make the medals out of pure gold or silver. Then what if the olympian needed some cash? They’d have to cash in the medal?