Obtaining an Oscar statuette represents one of the greatest achievements for some artists within the film industry, so the statuette is not for sale. However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to put a price on the trophy so that the winners cannot sell it if they want to get rid of it.
To know the real and approximate price of an Oscar statuette, you have to know the history behind the award and how it is done, since currently one of these awards costs only one dollar, as was established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences through a law it imposed in 1950.
Throughout the 93 editions of the Oscars, the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences has delivered around 3,000 statuettes, which are created every January from solid bronze, plated with 24-carat gold. It measures 34.5 cm, so, due to the metals that make it up, it weighs approximately 4 kilos, said the institution.
On the other hand, Epner Technology, the company that is currently in charge of making the statuettes, shared that their composition is: britannium, 2% copper metal alloy, 3% tin, 5% antimony (5%) and is plated in 24-carat gold.
Thanks to their characteristics and the way they are made, it is believed that the production cost of each statuette could be approximately USD 400, but its actual cost would amount to more than one million due to its importance.
And it is that during most of the first awards, the Oscars were created from plaster and did not have the importance that they acquired later, there was no great concern that someone would want to receive a financial benefit from that award.
However, when the statuettes began to be lost, the Academy launched an initiative so that they could be sold at a maximum price of USD 10, later proclaimed that it would be only one dollar and was non-negotiable.
In a statute that the Academy shared on its website, which in 2015 was ratified by a judge in Los Angeles, California due to the legal dispute that existed over the award that Joseph C, Wright won in 1942 in the category of Best Art Direction for the musical My Gal Sal, reads:
However, throughout history, lost Oscars have been sold at exorbitant prices. One of the most famous cases was when Michael Jackson bought one at auction.
In 1999, the King of Pop decided to acquire for USD 1.4 million the statuette that in 1940 was awarded to producer David O. Selznick for his film Gone with the Wind for Best Picture and which was lost. Currently, this award has not been returned to the Academy because she is, again, missing.
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