As organizers award the medals for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, fans and spectators alike may have pondered a singular question at some point: How much is an Olympic gold medal actually worth?
The short answer is far less — and far more — than most people assume.
How is an Olympic gold medal made, and what is it worth?
Despite the name, Olympic gold medals are not made of solid gold. Under International Olympic Committee rules, they are primarily composed of silver and plated with a thin layer of gold.
Still, with the gold price now near historic highs, even the thin coating carries more value than it once did.
Using the official size and weight specifications for the Milano Cortina medals, precious metals firm Dillon Gage has calculated what a gold medal would be worth if it were cast entirely in solid gold.
Each Milano Cortina medal measures 80 millimeters in diameter and is 10 millimeters thick. Based on those dimensions, Dillon Gage estimates that a medal of that size would have a volume of approximately 47.6 cubic centimeters and would contain about 919 grams of gold if produced entirely from the yellow metal.
At the current gold spot price of US$5,061.45 per troy ounce, that equates to roughly US$149,600 in intrinsic metal value alone, all before factoring in craftsmanship or symbolism.
But this is a hypothetical scenario. The actual gold medal that will hang around an athlete’s neck in Italy will contain 500 grams of .999 fine silver and just 6 grams of .9999 gold plating.
Using the current spot price of gold at US$5,061.45 per troy ounce and silver at US$87 per troy ounce, the combined intrinsic metal value of a 2026 Olympic gold medal comes to approximately US$2,375.
A silver medal, made of 500 grams of .999 silver, carries a metal value of about US$1,402 at today’s prices. A bronze medal, composed of 420 grams of copper priced at roughly US$5.90 per pound, has a melt value of about US$5.46.
“The value of gold medals is a curious inquiry we receive, especially around the time of the Olympics,” said Terry Hanlon, president of Dillon Gage Metals, in a press release as the games began.
“It’s one of the most recognizable medals in the world, so it’s natural for people to wonder what it’s made of and what it’s actually worth. While Olympic gold medals are not solid gold, the silver content alone carries far more value today than it did just a few years ago, reflecting how much precious-metal markets have changed.”
The medals themselves were designed by a multidisciplinary team led by Raffaella Paniè and produced by the Italian State Mint and Polygraphic Institute. Their split-surface design symbolizes the union of Milan and Cortina, as well as the shared effort behind every Olympic achievement.
Precious metals on the rise
Still, as eye-catching as the design may be, the math behind the medals offers a telling snapshot of today’s precious metals market. When the Paris 2024 Olympic medals were unveiled two years ago, gold was trading around US$2,400.
At that time, the intrinsic metal value of a gold medal was under US$1,000.
Today the gold price has more than doubled. The theoretical value of a solid gold Milano Cortina medal now approaches US$150,000, and even the thin 6 gram plating layer carries over US$975 in gold value alone.
The surge reflects broader trends in global markets where gold has rallied amid inflation concerns, geopolitical tensions and rising investor demand for safe-haven assets. Silver has also strengthened, contributing significantly to the base value of Olympic medals that are largely silver by weight.
But what is an Olympic medal really worth?
Despite the fun computation experiment, the actual worth of an Olympic medal undeniably lies elsewhere: the years of training, the sacrifices, the split-second finishes and the history attached to standing atop a podium.
While the real-world value of a medal is technically a few thousand dollars, for the over 5,000 world-class athletes showcasing their prowess at Milano Cortina, each medal is priceless in its own right.
No matter how high gold climbs, the opportunity to win on the Olympic stage remains beyond calculation.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
