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Antwerp 1920 Summer Olympics Gold Winner’s Medal with Original Case

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:12,000.00 - 14,000.00 USD
Antwerp 1920 Summer Olympics Gold Winner’s Medal with Original Case

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Auction Date:2017 Jul 20 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Desirable winner’s medal issued for the Antwerp 1920 Summer Olympics. Gilt silver, 60 mm, 85 gm, by Josue Dupon. The front shows a victorious athlete holding a laurel wreath and palm branch, with a statue of Renommee in the background, inscribed “VII Olympiade”; the reverse depicts the Brabo fountain above the Antwerp shield, a cathedral and city looming in the background, inscribed above, “Anvers MCMXX.” Includes the original leather case, gilt-stamped on top, "1er Prix, VIIe Olympiade, Anvers 1920"; the upper lid is detached but present. World War One had devastated Europe, and Belgium was especially effected. Hosting the Olympics in 1920 was an incredibly difficult operation so close to the end of the war. Because of financing problems for the Games, many shortcuts had to be taken. One of them was reducing the amount of gold plating on the first-place winner’s medals. Unfortunately, most of the gilding wore off almost immediately, and often, many of the medals appear almost silver. Gilding still remains on the edge and low relief areas of the medal. A total of 29 nations attended the VII Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium, with Hungary, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire all banned from competing due to their involvement in World War I and the cancelation of the 1916 Summer Games. In spite of such political unrest, the return of the Games debuted a trinity of enduring Olympic traditions—the voicing of the Olympic Oath, the symbolic release of doves, and the initial flying of the Olympic flag. A scarce first place medal with great historical significance.