1896 Olympic Silver Medal - First Modern Games - 124th Anniversary!!
JesseKraft
Posts: 414 ✭✭✭✭✭
Today is the 124th Anniversary of their opening. Post what you got!
1896 Greece. Olympics medal. Silver, 50mm. Struck by W. Pittner in Vienna.
American Numismatic Society, 0000.999.70623
Jesse C. Kraft, Ph.D.
Resolute Americana Curator of American Numismatics
American Numismatic Society
New York City
Member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), British Numismatic Society (BNS), New York Numismatic Club (NYNC), Early American Copper (EAC), the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (C4), U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association (USMNA), Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC), Token and Medal Society (TAMS), and life member of the Atlantic County Numismatic Society (ACNS).
Become a member of the American Numismatic Society!
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Comments
Wow! Very nice.
Pretty neat !!!
I like it.
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
Was this the medal awarded to event winners?
These are actually participants' medals, given to all athletes and officials involved with the Games. I believe they were sold to spectators as well. They came in Bronze and Silvered Bronze.
Winners' medals featured a facing bust of Zeus holding a globe with a winged Victory on the obverse and the Acropolis on the reverse. Winners received a silver medal and an olive branch, and runners-up received a copper medal and a laurel branch. The International Olympics Committee has retroactively assigned modern gold/silver/bronze designations to these early Games.
Admittedly, I wouldn't have known any of this if you didn't ask.
Sorry, the ANS doesn't have a Winner's Medal to share.
Jesse C. Kraft, Ph.D.
Resolute Americana Curator of American Numismatics
American Numismatic Society
New York City
Member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), British Numismatic Society (BNS), New York Numismatic Club (NYNC), Early American Copper (EAC), the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (C4), U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association (USMNA), Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC), Token and Medal Society (TAMS), and life member of the Atlantic County Numismatic Society (ACNS).
Become a member of the American Numismatic Society!
I have this small souvenir medal of the 1896 Olympic Games (30 mm, 11.40 g, looks like silvered brass). It mentions the dates of the ancient games of 446 and 1896. I did not see much of them.
Very cool! I especially like both medals in relation to each other. They were both made by W. Pittner in Vienna. However, the design of the OP was sculpted and reduced on a Janvier reduction machine, while the design on your piece was engraved directly into the die. Interesting pieces made during a transitional period in die production!
Jesse C. Kraft, Ph.D.
Resolute Americana Curator of American Numismatics
American Numismatic Society
New York City
Member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), British Numismatic Society (BNS), New York Numismatic Club (NYNC), Early American Copper (EAC), the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (C4), U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association (USMNA), Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC), Token and Medal Society (TAMS), and life member of the Atlantic County Numismatic Society (ACNS).
Become a member of the American Numismatic Society!
Bonjour Jesse, many thanks for these interesting informations.
Nice medals.
Did the ANS buy this lot in the last DNW sale? https://www.dnw.co.uk/auctions/catalogue/lot.php?auction_id=564&lot_uid=372651
I thought the estimate of £500 - £1,000 was a little low. It sold for £14,000.
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
Yikes! We did not. I believe that is what they call "moon money!"
Jesse C. Kraft, Ph.D.
Resolute Americana Curator of American Numismatics
American Numismatic Society
New York City
Member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), British Numismatic Society (BNS), New York Numismatic Club (NYNC), Early American Copper (EAC), the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (C4), U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association (USMNA), Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC), Token and Medal Society (TAMS), and life member of the Atlantic County Numismatic Society (ACNS).
Become a member of the American Numismatic Society!
Great thread! Now I know what several medals I had never seen look like. This is so much better than seeing another thread on an 1881-S Morgan Dollar that debates if it deserves a green or gold sticker!
I lean something every day .