A piece of history. A medal from the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896, will be auctioned off next month in Britain. Made by a French artist, the sculptor J.C. Chaplain, it depicts an image of Zeus, with the word “Olympia”. The identity of its first owner remains unknown, but the medal was found by a family in the West Midlands, where it had been passed down from generation to generation until it ended up in a drawer. Its current owner took it out for a ‘spring cleaning’ and then decided to have it appraised for a possible auction. According to estimates, it could find a buyer for 25 to 30,000 dollars. At the time of the Athens Games in 1896, medals were only awarded to athletes who finished first and second in their event. The winners received a silver model, their runners-up a bronze version. Only three British athletes received one of these bronze medals.
