Olympic gold medal worth only $644July 31, 2012 - 10:39 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The value of an Olympic medal, for many the crowning achievement of a lifetime’s work, is of course priceless – an irreplaceable memento to outstanding athletic achievement. Yet in real terms, at least for the third place finishers at London 2012, the actual monetary value of medals is astonishingly low. The bronze medals awarded at these games have been valued at just Ј3 ($4.71). Those that occupy the bottom rung of the podium are given prizes that are made up of 97 percent copper, 2.5 percent zinc and 0.5 percent tin, which according to London’s Daily Mail newspaper makes them worth Ј3 at current prices. “Copper is not a particularly valuable metal,” jewelry expert Dan Cohen said. “Copper prices have gone up recently though, so much so that people have been stealing brass cables and so on. One and two pence pieces in the United Kingdom are no longer made of copper, because they would be more valuable if they were melted down.” London 2012 medals weigh just under one pound and at three inches across are the biggest ever awarded at a Summer Olympics. They were designed by artist David Watkins and 4,700 of them will be handed out over the course of the event. The gold and silver medals, naturally, have a greater actual value. A gold is worth $644, yet is only one percent gold, with the rest made up of silver and copper. The silvers replace the gold element with extra copper, and are worth about half as much, Yahoo! Sports reported. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | Director General of Ucom takes part in recruiting conference Ralph Yirikian participated in the Recruit Days business and networking conference organized by Move2Career. Ameriabank named Best Bank in Armenia for 2024 by Global Finance Ameriabank has been named the Best Bank in Armenia by Global Finance magazine in its 31st annual awards. Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. Lavrov rejects Armenia’s “defamation” of Russia, CSTO Lavrov decried the Armenian leaders’ “defamation” of Russian soldiers and border guards deployed in Armenia. |