Historic 1936 silver medal of Carl Ludwig “Luz” Long sold at auction

On Saturday, the long jump silver medal that Carl Ludwig “Luz” Long won at the Berlin 1936 Olympics was auctioned off by SCP Auctions. It was sold for $488,435 to become the most valuable silver medal ever sold at auction.

The previous record-high for a sale for of a silver medal was “under $100,000′ according to David Kohler, president and CEO of SCP Auctions.

The friendship between Long and Jesse Owens, which became one of sport’s most enduring story lines, was forged during their duels during the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics

Together Long and Owens took a victory lap around the famous Olympiastadion after Owens had set the new Olympic long jump record.

In a fearless display of the Olympic spirit both athletes walked arm-in-arm in front of the record crowd of 110,000 fans - which included many officers of the Third Reich and German leader Adolf Hitler.

“It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler,” Owens said afterward. “You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment.”

Long was enlisted soon after the Games and was killed in battle in 1943 serving in the German Army during World War II.

One of four gold medals that Owens won at the ‘36 games remains the most expensive medal ever sold at auction. In 2013, one of Owens’ golds sold for $1,466,574 at SCP Auctions. The most expensive piece of Olympic memorabilia was set in 2019 when the original Olympic Manifesto was sold by Sotheby’s for 8.8 million dollars.