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The gold medal still has its original ribbon and leather case.
RR Auction
In the summer of 1904, the United States hosted its first ever Olympic Games. Up until that point, global competitors had been held in Europe, but organizers decided to move across the Atlantic to hold the games in St. Louis.
The 1904 Olympics were revolutionary for another reason. We started the tradition of awarding a gold medal to the top finisher at each event. Many of the approximately 100 gold medals awarded during the games have been lost to history, with those that remain housed in museums or private collections.
However, in December, one of these rare 1904 gold medals appeared on the market. It sold for $545,371 at the end of RR Auction’s Olympic memorabilia sale last week.
The medal in question was awarded to American runner Fred Schull, who won the 110 meter hurdles event. One side is engraved with the words “Olympiad 1904” and depicts an athlete holding a wreath. The opposite side shows Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, along with the “110 meter hurdles” and “Holy”. Louis USA” medal’s original leather case and ribbon are still intact.
The medal was for sale from the Schule family’s collection, according to Michael Casey of the Associated Press.
“Collectors often strive to assemble a complete set of Olympic medals from every Games, and no set is complete without the 1904 gold medal,” said Bobby Eaton, chief operating officer of RR Auctions, in a statement. It is stated in “Within our vast network of collectors, there are no others in private hands from the sanctioned 1904 event. That level of rarity, combined with its condition and provenance, makes it a collector’s item. explains why he was determined to acquire it.
The 1904 Olympics were originally scheduled to be held in Chicago. However, organizers later moved the game to St. Louis and combined it with the World’s Fair to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Organizers also spread the word about the Olympic event for nearly five months. As a result, the summer games were “lost in confusion”, according to the International Olympic Committee. Many European athletes decided to stay home due to the Russo-Japanese war and the effort and expense required to travel to the United States. Ultimately, most of our competitors that year were American or Canadian.
Several new sports debuted at the 1904 games, including boxing, freestyle wrestling, decathlon, and dumbbell events. And the games featured the first Olympic amputee, American gymnast George Eiser, who won six medals with a wooden leg.
But Olympic and world fair organizers worked together to create “Anthropology Day.” This created a racist two-day event in which “savages” competed in a variety of sports to demonstrate the “inherent inferiority of the world’s indigenous peoples” I did. 2008.
The auctioned medals represent “an early snapshot of the modern Olympic Games,” according to Eaton. For collectors. ”
Two other Olympic medals command higher prices, reports Clemente Lisi of Sports Illustrated. In 2013, the gold medal won by American runner Jesse Owens from the 1936 games in Berlin sold for nearly $1.5 million. And in 2012, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko sold his 1996 Atlanta gold medal for $1 million to raise money for a charitable foundation.
Beyond the 1904 gold medal, RR Auctions’ sale featured 384 Olympic artifacts. Other high-profile items included the 1998 Nagano Gold Medal ski jump. This sold for $160,773 and the 1956 Stockholm Gold Medal brought $99,831.
Filed under: American History, Auctions, Fairs, History, Olympics, Summer Olympics
