Olympic Medals from repurposed metals: Just read an article about the medals to be handed out in the Tokyo Olympics. It seems the gold, silver and copper (for bronze) were obtained...

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

Just read an article about the medals to be handed out in the Tokyo Olympics. It seems the gold, silver and copper (for bronze) were obtained from phones and electronics collected over a 2 year period.

And even though the gold medals will weigh in at just under a pound and a quarter, you won't get rich melting one down...they are solid silver plated with just 6 grams of gold.

But that is pretty standard.

If they were pure gold, at about 17.9 troy ounces they would have a melt value of a bit over $32,000.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

flip1948 wrote:

Just read an article about the medals to be handed out in the Tokyo Olympics. It seems the gold, silver and copper (for bronze) were obtained from phones and electronics collected over a 2 year period.

And even though the gold medals will weigh in at just under a pound and a quarter, you won't get rich melting one down...they are solid silver plated with just 6 grams of gold.

But that is pretty standard.

I guess it's the thought that matters

ELNikkor

Thanks for telling me this; now I won't try so hard to win the gold...

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

Yeah, for only $350 or so it's not worth the effort.

Peterfiore Loc: Where DR goes south

flip1948 wrote:

Just read an article about the medals to be handed out in the Tokyo Olympics. It seems the gold, silver, and copper (for bronze) were obtained from phones and electronics collected over a 2 year period.
If they were pure gold, at about 17.9 troy ounces, they would have a melt value of a bit over $32,000.

But If the Gold medal recipient breaks a long-standing record by a good margin, it will be worth a lot more to the right person one day, possibly to an insane amount.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Interesting. I can't imagine giving away hundreds of solid gold medals.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

flip1948 wrote:

Just read an article about the medals to be handed... (show quote)

Deception is interesting, is it not?

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

jerryc41 wrote:

Interesting. I can't imagine giving away hundreds of solid gold medals.

Why not the host country already has spent billions in getting the games to their country and building a venue. What's a few million more for metals

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

Talk about a target rich environment. Hundreds of kids walking around with $32K of nontraceable wealth that fits in a pocket. Even if you locked the medals up in a safe in the Olympics office while the games were going on, every winner has to leave the grounds eventually and make their way home. Would you want to carry that kind of wealth through a variety of airports, after your picture has been plastered on dozens if not hundreds of sites worldwide?

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

wrangler5 wrote:

Talk about a target rich environment. Hundreds of kids walking around with $32K of nontraceable wealth that fits in a pocket. Even if you locked the medals up in a safe in the Olympics office while the games were going on, every winner has to leave the grounds eventually and make their way home. Would you want to carry that kind of wealth through a variety of airports, after your picture has been plastered on dozens if not hundreds of sites worldwide?

Honestly, I really and truly never EVER needed to worry about that! 🤣

--Rich