Fingering Up Olympic Medals?

Does it bother anyone but me that Olympic athletes put their sweaty, oily fingers all over the surfaces of the medals when they pose for photos (you never see them hold their medals by the edges)? Is there a numismatic market for Olympic medals? If so, would an athlete's fingerprints on a medal add or detract from its value? Would a collector of Olympic medals prize a specimen with fingerprints as a historical document or personal connection to the original owner?

 

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Yep, they come up for sale once in a while:

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100405&page=1#.UBfGLqNmbIU

 

Yes, there is a market for Olympic Medals, and there has been at least one book written about them that I know..........Olympic Medals and Coins, 510B.C. - 1994 by Victor Gadoury.

No! I don't think most Olympic athletes have ever been accused of being numismatists. What about auto mechanics? How do they handle the money paid to them by customers?

Chris

 

Lol I agree with Chris. It does not bother me in the least they handle their medals. They just spent most of their lives trying to be the best in the world at their passion, I would not be a grinch and go out there and slap their hands for actually touching the embodiment of their reward for such hard work.

Sometimes a medal is a medal, and not a potential acquisition to your collection.

 

If you were on the podium receiving a gold or silver medal, trust me; your fingers would be all over that medal as well. :thumb:

 

Thanks for the replies so far, just wondering what people think. I'm not planning on acquiring any Olympic medals any time soon, but curious about collecting areas other than my own. It would be interesting to hear from someone (or someone who knows someone) who does collect these.

Also, I don't mean to be a "grinch"... just trying to spark some comments. It would be great if someone said, "yes, the fingerprints of an athlete on her hard-won medal add authenticity and historic interest" or something along those lines. I certainly don't mean any disrespect to the athletes themselves or to minimize their accomplishments.

 

We didn't take it that way, just having fun with your "fingering up" idea.

 

I would not be surprised if the medals have a protective coating on them to prevent oxidation from causing them to discolor. That would protect them from the fingerprints as well.

 

Why should it bother collectors at all that Olympic athletes embrace their awards? They worked very hard and, with some luck, placed at the top of their respective sport on a global stage. I find this no different than a player kissing a trophy. It's THEIR MEDAL. Why should I have any say in what they do with it?

I've never seen (in person), let alone held, an Olympic medal. I don't know if their names are engraved on the medals, nor what the reverse looks like. If there's a way to connect the medal to a specific sport/event/athlete, I'd assume that's where the value comes from. I doubt any collectors would prefer a pristine medal from badminton over a finger-print laden medal from the 1992 basketball dream team.

I would think Olympic medals fall into the same category as championship rings. The value is primarily from theme as opposed to the look.

 

You know, every time I find a Morgan dollar with a fingerprint on it, I send it to NCIC in the hopes that one day I'll find one with Wyatt Earp's print on it.

Chris

 

I have. The US Olympic Training Center (one of three, I believe) is located 4 or 5 miles from my house. One year after the Olympics (2002 or 2006 I think) a "Welcome Back" was held for the athletes that trained here and competed in the Games. I cannot remember the female athlete's name but she won a gold medal in her event and I got to hold it for a moment. That was a thrill.

Don't knock Olympic badminton. I attended badminton three days at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (including the Gold Medal Round) and it was fantastic. It was not your garden-variety, backyard badminton by any means. I never knew badminton could be played at such a high level.

 

I saw some of the Badminton televised for the last Olympics and I found it fascinating. It is NOT an amateurs game.

 

The challenge will be when we you see an Olympic medal winner hold their medal in a numismatic manner. That will be an ahah moment.

 

Can you imagine a gold medal winner proclaiming he wants a PCGS MS70 medal instead of hanging it around his neck?

Unfortunately the badminton tournament has gone in a very sour note. For those who haven't heard yet check out the article.

link

 

Weird. I hate to say it, since I know it made for horrible press, but I don't think they should have been banned. I agree with the writer of the article the system created was to blame, and the players were simply gaming the rules. I probably would have done the same if in their shoes, unless there was a specific rule forbidding it.

 

I'd like to see an Olympic medal with Jesse Owen's fingerprint on it!!

 

It appears there is a "specific rule forbidding it". The BWF (Badminton World Federation) disqualified the eight players for

Think about the fans who paid to watch those matches. How would you feel if you had spent several thousand dollars to travel to London to attend the Games and instead of watching Olympic-calibre badminton you were greeted by the equivalent of 8th-graders playing in the backyard?

 

What about the bite marks?

Many people will touch the medals...who wouldn't want to hold a real olympic medal? I'm sure they get passed around like hot potatos by family and friends.

 

I just learned yesterday that medal winners also get a cash reward.
The US winners get to pay income tax on that reward.

 

Guess they will also pay taxes on all the advertising (and other) revenues that winners get.

Christian