Tokyo gold sells for $62,500 in auction, while Ryan Lochte medals fetch high prices

A year after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, collectors were going for the gold in the latest RR Auction online sale.

A gold medal from the postponed 2020 Games sold for $62,500, including the buyer’s premium, in the latest RR Auction online sale.

“For the first one coming to market, I think that’s a very strong price,” Bobby Eaton, chief operating officer for RR Auction, told Around the Rings. “I was hoping it was going to reach a higher price, but it sets a precedent.”

A gold medal from the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix sold for $50,000 while a 1936 Berlin gold medal that had been re-plated fetched $45,000, more than double its $20,000 estimate.

“I think the last Berlin gold medal we sold went for $25,000,” Eaton said. “They’re rare and I think ‘36 is the standard. That’s one of the most iconic Olympics and it just garners the price. They don’t come up often, but when they do, there is no baseline on those.”

Other collectors opted to go for the bronze. Bidding was fast and furious for a pair of bronze medals won by Ryan Lochte at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, with the winner paying $89,423 including the buyer’s premium.

Lochte won the medals in the 200-meter individual medley and 400-meter individual medley. Eaton speculated the connection to Michael Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals, boosted the bidding.

The medals had an estimate of just $12,000.

“There were two passionate collectors that thought those were the prize medals in the group of the Lochte medals,” Eaton said. “Bronze medals from Beijing are usually $6,000-$8,000, so it’s not going to set the precedent for Beijing medals.”

Lochte’s two silver and one bronze medal from the 2012 London Games sold for $56,348 including the buyer’s premium, while his Athens 2004 silver went for $21,008.

A Breitling watch once owned by Lochte fetched $16,143. Eaton said each lot went to a different collector.

A portion of the proceeds of the Lochte lots will be donated to charity.

Ukrainian gymnast Ruslan Mezentsev was pleased that his Sydney 2000 Olympic silver medal sold for $14,438. RR Auction will be donating the entire proceeds to him, including the 25 percent buyer’s premium, to help with the ongoing war effort.

Eaton said Mezentsev told him, “It will help me and my family.”

A Paris 1900 gilt silver medal for lifesaving went for $15,625, more than five times its estimate.

A collection of items from the estate of the late Canadian International Olympic Committee (IOC) member James Worrall, including IOC session badges, garnered robust prices.

“The family’s astounded with the prices and the support from people who knew him,” Eaton said.

Two of Dan Jansen’s speedskating suits, which he was selling to benefit his foundation, went for $1,300 each. “We sold the bigger pieces,” Eaton said, “and I just had a client text me and say, ‘Hey, if anything didn’t sell, I’ll buy it all so we can raise even more money for his foundation.”

RR Auction is donating its share of the proceeds to the foundation.

The gold and silver winner’s medals won by American swimmer Jimmy Lane at the the 1948 London Games, plus his participation medal and a photo of him on the podium brought $40,206.

A total of 20 torches sold, with an Albertville 1992 torch fetching the highest price of $48,721 and a Sapporo 1972 torch garnering $20,625,

A 1972 Olympic ticket signed by Jesse Owens sold for $756 while a Rome 1960 gold medal winner’s pin went for $1,251.

On the lower end, a stuffed Roni the Raccoon mascot from 1980 sold for $250, a Sydney 2000 purple relay baton went for $278 and two St. Louis 1904 programs fetched $125 apiece.

Eaton, who will hold his next Olympic sale in January, said the market remains strong for memorabilia, particularly the higher-end pieces.

“I think it’s the COVID effect, but it’s really got people more interested in the Games and the memorabilia around the Games,” he said. “I think the prices are staying strong, and the interest will be there for years to come.”