1896 Olympic medal shatters auction estimates in Denmark

Monday 02 - 11:24

By: Dakir Madiha

1896 Olympic medal shatters auction estimates in Denmark

A silver medal from the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 has sold for 1,152,000 Danish crowns, or about 181,000 dollars, at an online sale in Denmark, far above expectations. The piece was offered by Bruun Rasmussen Arts Auctioneers, which had guided the medal at between 200,000 and 300,000 crowns, meaning the final price came in at roughly four times the top estimate once fees were included. The hammer price alone reached 900,000 crowns, underscoring the intense interest in early Olympic memorabilia among international collectors.

The medal comes from the 1896 Athens Olympics, the event that launched the modern Games and drew 241 athletes from 14 countries, including Denmark. It was engraved by French artist Jules-Clement Chaplain and shows Zeus holding a globe topped by Nike, the goddess of victory, extending an olive branch, while the reverse depicts the Acropolis and Parthenon with a Greek inscription reading “International Olympic Games – Athens 1896.” Bruun Rasmussen described the piece as a rare prize in the numismatic world and noted that medals from the inaugural Games seldom reach the market due to their limited survival.

At the 1896 Games, first-place finishers received silver medals rather than gold, while runners-up were given bronze awards, with gold medals introduced only at later Olympics. The auction house highlighted Denmark’s Viggo Jensen as the country’s first Olympic weightlifting champion in Athens, but said it could not confirm whether this specific medal was awarded for his victory. A comparable first-place 1896 silver medal, in more worn condition, has previously sold for more than 180,000 dollars, illustrating the narrow and highly competitive market for these early Olympic pieces. Collectors and specialists say such results reflect the combination of sporting history, artistic design, and extreme rarity that makes surviving 1896 medals especially sought after.