With the Winter Olympics set to launch in Milano and Cortina, Italy, later this week, attention is turning not only to the athletes, but also to the beautiful medals they’ll be competing for.
As with every Olympic Games, the gold, silver and bronze medals carry enormous emotional and symbolic weight. But for jewelry lovers, there’s always one irresistible question: What are these awards actually worth in precious metal?
The newly unveiled Milano Cortina 2026 medals feature a striking design unlike any before. For the first time, the Winter Games will be co-hosted by two cities, and the medals reflect that partnership through two interlocking halves — a bold metaphor for unity between Milan’s modern elegance and Cortina’s alpine heritage.
One half is textured, the other smooth, symbolizing contrasts coming together: city and mountain, athlete and supporter, Olympic and Paralympic spirit. One side bears the Olympic rings, while the other displays the Games’ logo, with each medal engraved for its specific sport and event.
Measuring 80 mm wide and 10 mm thick, the medals are handcrafted by Italy’s state mint, the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), using recycled metals from its own production stream and produced entirely with renewable energy — an eco-conscious touch worthy of a modern Olympic era.
But let’s get to the melt value.
Some of our readers may be surprised to learn that Olympic “gold” medals are mostly silver. Milano Cortina’s gold medal contains 500 grams of .999 silver, plus 6 grams of pure gold. (International Olympic Committee rules mandate that gold medals must contain at least 6 grams of pure gold plating over a pure silver base.)
With silver priced at about $78.94 per ounce, the silver portion is worth approximately $1,392. The gold, at roughly $4,691 per ounce, adds another $990. That puts the total melt value at about $2,382.
(And if it were pure gold? The value would skyrocket to an astonishing $83,727 — a reminder of why solid-gold medals disappeared after the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.)
This year's silver medal is made entirely of 500 grams of .999 silver, giving it a melt value of about $1,392.
The bronze medal weighs 420 grams and is made primarily of copper. At copper’s current price of about $0.37 per ounce, the bronze medal’s metal value comes out to only $5.47. It's a humbling contrast, considering bronze medals are every bit as hard-earned.
In total, 735 medals (245 of each type) will be awarded across 116 medal events. You can be sure that none of the athletes would consider selling an Olympic medal for its melt value, but when these awards come up for auction, the results can be impressive.
For instance, back in 2013, billionaire Ron Burkle plunked down $1.46 million at SCP Auctions for a Jesse Owens gold medal from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 2019, Goldin Auctions offered for sale an Owens gold medal from the same Olympics. That medal was sold to an online bidder for $615,000.
Credit: Image courtesy of Milano Cortina 2026.