Wait, are Olympic gold medals *actually* made of solid gold, or?

The 2024 Paris Olympics are nearly upon us, which means a bunch of people are about to walk away with some verrrrry fancy medals. Obviously, the International Olympic Committee gives out three types of medals: gold, silver, and bronze. And judging from how heavy they look, they’re definitely very solid. But, like, how solid (and how expensive) are we talking? Because I’m going to need answers to the following questions before I pivot my life from couch to curling.

Are Olympic medals made from real gold?

Kinda. Sorta. In the way that the necklace your ex gave you is made from “real gold” plus a bunch of other metals lurking beneath the surface. Turns out Olympic gold medals are actually, ironically, mostly made from silver. Specifically, they’re 92.5 percent silver. However, they are plated with six grams of gold, so at least there’s that.

Back in 2021, an International Olympic Committee spokesperson confirmed as much to Newsweek, explaining, “The medals for first and second places shall be of silver of at least 925–1000 grade; the medal for first place shall be gilded with at least 6g of pure gold.”

Obviously, this means silver medals are basically just gold medals without the extra gilding. Meanwhile, bronze medals (bless them!) are made from 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. Huh!

So, how much are Olympic medals worth?

Honestly, Olympic medals generally tend not to be worth that much when it comes to the literal materials they’re made of. This year's medals are designed by LVMH Group company, Chaumet, and embellished with an original piece of the Eiffel Tower. So, it's safe to assume that their worth has probably spiked up a bit.

Silver isn’t a particularly valuable metal, and NBC Sports reports that the gold medals (which, again, are mostly made up of silver) at the 2024 Summer Olympics are worth $750 to $850. Apparently, there’s about $350 of gold and $400 of silver in each medal, which comes to about $750.64 in total metal value. CNN also revealed that a silver medal could be worth about $450, while a bronze medal's worth rounds up to about $5. Of course, Olympic medals have enormous historical and sentimental value and are therefore priceless, so their actual material worth is kind of irrelevant!

Kay, but what’s up with Olympians biting their medals?

Nary a year goes by without photos circulating of Olympians biting their gold medals. Why? Because biting gold is a classic way of verifying its authenticity. Gold is a super-soft and malleable metal that can be marked, apparently even by teeth. As the Olympics website puts it, “History says that, during the early days, traders bit their gold coins to check its authenticity when the precious metal was used as a form of currency. Gold is a soft metal which dents under slight stress and leaves a mark when gnawed.”

Cute, but if you’re thinking about biting a medal in the near future, please be advised that German luger David Moeller broke a tooth while biting his silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics, so….


Lead image is credited to Pexels.


This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com in July, 2024. 

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