In the world of Olympics collectibles, the key to value is rarity. And the rarest commodity is an Olympic medal.

"Everybody would like a winner's medal, but most people can't afford one," said Ingrid O'Neil, who runs an Olympic memorabilia auction out of Vancouver, Wash.

"I would think a winner's medal [from Vancouver] ... it depends if it's gold, silver, or bronze, but I think I would pay on the spot $25,000 for a gold medal."

But she doesn't expect one to come up for a while.

"They will be very, very, very hard to get," O'Neil said.

"Many countries now offer a lot of money to their medal winners, so they don't need to sell their medals any more. When the Soviet Union still existed, the eastern European countries had so little money, if [an athlete] sold their medals for a few thousand dollars that was several years income for them.

"Nowadays I think in Russia they get $50,000 for a gold medal. They don't sell their medals for a few thousand dollars any more."

If you can't lay your hands on a gold, silver or bronze, the next best thing is the "participation medal" every athlete gets for showing up and competing.

"There are a lot of collectors who want participation medals of each Olympiad," said O'Neil, a German who has been dealing in Olympic memorabilia since the mid-1980s.

"It depends on how many are available, [but they can be worth] more than $100 for sure."

"The most expensive medal we've sold is a participation medal for the 1904 St. Louis Summer Olympics," said Chris Ivey of Heritage Auctions in Dallas, which often sells Olympic memorabilia in its sports auctions.

"That's because it's so rare . Everyone who's an Olympic medal collector is looking for this participation medal. It went for $16,700 [US]."

The 1904 St. Louis Games also produced O'Neil's biggest sale: $50,000 US for a gold medal.

"At that Olympiad they had real gold medals," O'Neil said.

"Actually there were four Olympiads that had real gold medals: Paris 1900, St. Louis 1904, London 1908, and Stockholm 1912. Sometimes you hear from [modern] gold medal winners, �Oh my gold medal should be worth so much, just for the gold.' They do not realize [they are made out of] six grams of gold over sterling silver. They are not gold."

To read the complete article, see:Rarity sets prices for Olympic memorabilia(www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/
Rarity+sets+prices+Olympic+memorabilia/2189967/story.html)