Sold! Harrison Dillard’s historic Olympic gold medal from 1948 sells at the last minute for $120,000

The auction for Harrison Dillard’s gold medal came down to the wire, a fitting end since he won the 100-meter dash in 1948 in the first Olympic photo finish.

With about a minute to go Saturday night in an online sale that started March 20, the $120,000 bid popped up. Auctioneer Ingrid O’Neil told Around the Rings the bidder had registered only a few minutes before.

”I thought it would go towards the end,” said O’Neil. She said she told Dillard’s daughter Terri, who had consigned the medal, “Don’t worry about it.”

”She was very, very happy,” O’Neil added.

Dillard, whose nickname was “Bones,” passed away in 2019 at age 96. He won a total of four gold medals — two in 1948 and two in 1952 — but this was the most significant one. Favored to win the 110-meter hurdles at the 1948 London Olympics, Dillard had a bad race at the Olympic Trials and failed to make the U.S. team. He had already qualified for the Olympics, though, by placing third in the 100 meters. He went on to win that event as the underdog.

O’Neil said the buyer is an American.

She noted that one long-time collector told her that he thought the medal was “way overpriced.”

But O’Neil said she believes Olympic winner’s medals are undervalued. Except for a Jesse Owens medal from the 1936 Berlin Olympics that sold for about $1.5 million and “Miracle on Ice” gold medals for $300,000-$400,000, most medals sell for relatively modest prices.

”Think about how much these baseball cards go for — hundreds of thousands, millions for one card,” she said. “There’s no comparison. It’s just that the Olympic medals are low-priced compared to what’s going on with other sports things.”

And while baseball cards were sold to the public in cigarette packs or with bubble gum, “There is effort,” O’Neil said, “and a whole life story behind these medals.”

One of the selling points for Dillard’s medal was its provenance. Often the names of the winners have been lost to time. An 1896 Olympic silver medal — which was awarded to the winner — sold for $80,000 ($96,000 including commission) to its lone bidder. That was a far cry from the $180,111 a similar medal fetched last July in a sale by RR Auction.

”But I was happy, and the buyer is very happy,” O’Neil said. “That’s what we like to have, happy collectors.”

A silver medal from 1906 with the same design featuring the head of Zeus and the Acropolis except with 1906 in place of 1896 sold for $7,500 ($9,000).

A speedskating gold from 1972 Sapporo carried an estimate of $32,500 and was bid up to $42,500 ($51,000, but a speedskating gold from 1976 Innsbruck had no bids at a starting price of $17,000.

And in what looked like a bargain, a 1952 Helsinki gold medal had one bid at $8,500 ($10,200) — and it came with its original case. O’Neil said the consignor determined the opening price. Although the plating was worn and a bit splotchy on the obverse, the medal is the same as the second individual gold won by Dillard in 1952 when he competed in the 110-meter hurdles. However, this medal did not come with a story.

The bidding in O’Neil’s 91st Olympic auction was most spirited on rare badges, particularly from the 1932 Los Angeles Games. A rowing badge with a frayed ribbon had an estimate of $350. It sold for $6,000 ($7,200).

”Wow, I couldn’t believe it,” O’Neil said. “The collector who sent it to me, he will fall over. He said, “Do you think $350 is OK?” He thought it might be too high. “I said, ‘I am not so sure because of the condition. I will try it, but I cannot promise you it will sell.’”

A badge with a multi-colored ribbon for a sports technical official in LA started at $1,200 and ended at $8,000 ($9,600). Meanwhile, a large celluloid badge for Messenger at the Riviera Country Club sold for $1,700 ($2,040).

Polo was on the program four years later in 1936 and a badge for the organizing committee management started at $1,500 and finished at $5,000 ($6,000).

”Enough collectors have the common badges,” O’Neil said. “The serious collectors who have collected for years and finally see a special one, they go for it. They know if they don’t buy it now, they might never see it again.”

Among the 36 torches, 20 sold, including a 1992 Albertville torch for $65,000 ($78,000) and common torches for a few thousand dollars each. In the past few weeks, two Beijing 2022 torches have sold on eBay for $10,200 and $11,200. Tokyo 2020 torches are as low as $6,500 on the online site.

However, O’Neil sold her Beijing torch for $22,000 ($26,400) and her Tokyo torch for $16,000 ($19,200).

Unsold lots are still available, including an Olympic order presented by former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch to a Swedish Olympic official for $6,000 ($7,200).

However, two lots are no longer on the market, much to O’Neil’s delight because she wanted to get them out of her house. In 1924, Fernand Coffin made a series of sculptures of sports figures for the Paris Olympics which turned out to be quite creepy. O’Neil offered a rugby player and a runner, with each made of plaster and standing about 11 inches high. They sold for $750 apiece ($900).

”Boy, was I glad when I saw that,” O’Neil said. “That was a real relief.”