How Much Are Olympic Gold, Silver Medals Worth? The Real Metal Value May Surprise You

Millions of viewers around the world tuned into the 2026 Winter Olympics to watch hundreds of the world's best athletes compete for medals and national pride. While the Olympics may have provided a boost to Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) thanks to strong viewership in the United States, athletes who won medals also got a financial boost in many countries.

Olympic Medal Values

The 2026 Winter Olympics, hosted by Italy, saw 30 countries win medals across individual and team events. Those winners took home gold, silver, and bronze medals for first, second, and third place finishes, respectively.

Those medals contain real precious metals inside that could be worth hundreds to thousands of dollars if melted down, as reported by CBS News. Unlike past Olympics, the gold medals are no longer made from solid gold, a practice that ended after the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Here are the current values of the metals inside the medals at the time of writing and their components:

• Gold medals: 500 grams of silver ($1,415), 6 grams of gold ($998.64) – $2,413.64
• Silver medals: 500 grams of silver – $1,415.00
• Bronze medals: 420 grams of copper – $5.46

Thanks to a rise in metal values, this is up significantly from the $9098.17, $451.23 and $3.81 values that 2024 Summer Olympic medals were worth as Benzinga previously shared. Those 2024 medals also included real iron from the Eiffel Tower, which was not calculated in the value.

Olympic Medal Historic Valuations

While the medals could be worth thousands if melted down, athletes would be better off selling them at auction.

A Jesse Owens 1936 gold medal sold for $1.47 million in 2017 to billionaire Ron Burkle. Two "Miracle on Ice" 1980 gold medals sold for $310,700 and $262,900.

Before 1960, Olympic medals weren't engraved for the sport or event, making them harder to track to a specific event or athlete.

An 1896 first place medal from the first modern Olympic Games sold for $180,000 previously. The first Olympics featured only 250 athletes and awarded silver medals for first place, bronze for second and no third place medal.

American diving legend Greg Louganis sold three of his gold medals with a 1988 gold medal selling for over $200,000 according to USA Today.

In 2022, U.S. swimming medal winner Ryan Lochte auctioned three silver medals and three bronze medals, raising money for charity. A lot of two silver and one bronze medals from the 2012 Olympics sold for $56,348, a lot of two bronze medals from 2008 sold for $89,423 and a 2004 silver medal sold for $21,008.

Medal values at auction depend on the athlete, sport and any historic significance. Medals often sell for $10,000 or more.

Olympic Medal Payouts

Along with winning a medal that they get to take home, athletes from many countries also receive payments from their country for the historic accomplishments.

According to Sports Business Journal, the United States paid athletes the following bonuses for winning medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, although that amount could be different for team sports.

• Gold Medal: $37,500
• Silver Medal: $22,500
• Bronze Medal: $15,000

Those are bonuses that are kept by athletes alongside their medals, but athletes who make a certain amount of annual income may also need to pay taxes on the bonuses. Team USA won 33 overall medals, including 12 gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, ranking second behind Norway (41 total, 18 gold medals)

Other countries pay higher bonuses, which may be due to typically winning fewer medals or to try and make historic accomplishments.

Host country Italy paid out $212,600, $106,300 and $70,990 in bonuses for gold, silver and bronze medal individual winners respectively. The country won 30 total medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, including 10 golds.

Norway paid bonuses of $16,500 to each medal winner, regardless of what rank it was.

Kazakhstan pays a bonus of $250,000 for gold medals and saw its first ever Winter Olympics gold medal winner in 2026 with Mikhail Shaidorov winning for figure skating.

This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.

Photo: Grindstone Media Group/Shutterstock