Loaded for Bear: an Olympic gold medal contains little gold but it is still priceless

With the gold price not far off its record high of almost $2,500 (about R46 000) an ounce scaled two weeks ago, here’s a fun fact: Olympic gold medals are mostly made of other stuff. 

The medals being awarded in Paris – gold, silver and bronze – all contain something unique: original iron from the iconic Eiffel Tower. 

“Built between 1887 and 1889, the ‘Dame de fer’ has since undergone numerous renovations. Certain metallic elements have been permanently removed and conserved in this process. For Paris 2024, the Eiffel Tower Operating Company is allowing these genuine pieces of Parisian and French history to find glory again,” the International Olympic Committee says.

The original Eiffel Tower was formed like a hexagon, which is why the medals – designed by LVMH jeweller Chaumet – bear that shape set upon a disk. 

“In order to bring together the icons of the Eiffel Tower and the medal of the Games, an equally symbolic craft was required. Thanks to the creativity of LVMH and the House of Chaumet, the medal is encrusted with a piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower,” the International Olympic Committee says. 

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“Six metal appendages —one for each are used to fix the hexagon in place. This encrusting is possible due to the slightly concave shape of the medal, which adds depth to the design of each side. For Paris 2024, the distinctive ‘Clous de Paris’ hobnail shape that resembles the famous Eiffel Tower rivets has been chosen for the setting.”

The gold medals are required to have about six grams of gold, which at current prices would be worth around $460. But they are mostly forged from silver with a bit of the Eiffel Tower thrown in. 

The silver medals are mostly silver, while copper and zinc are the main ingredients in the bronze medals. Copper is priced in pounds – 16 ounces – and it is currently fetching just over $4 a pound, while silver is worth about $270 a pound. 

Silver may be worth more by weight, but copper is currently the commodity king as the global economy finds new uses for the red medal that was being utilised by humans thousands of years before the first Olympics in ancient Greece. 

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