What the 10 Biggest 'Gold' Medals Would Be Worth, If They Were Gold

Weight of medal:20 ounces

Hypothetical pure gold value: $31,680

Republican presidential candidate and former Bain Capital chief Mitt Romney was the head of Salt Lake's Olympic committee, which meant small measures were out. When Norway set the Winter Olympic record with 13 gold medals during the 2002 games, it took home more than 16 pounds worth of these medals, which would have been worth $412,000 in gold. The U.S. didn't do so shabbily either, as its 10 gold medals ($317,000 in gold) were the most ever won in a Winter Olympics by a host country.

1. 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Weight of medal:17.6 to 20.3 ounces

Hypothetical pure gold value: $27,878 to $32,155

Salt Lake City still has Vancouver's small medals beat, but the 20.3-ounce big boys handed out in Canada two years ago are still the biggest and most ostentatious the Olympics have ever seen. Each medal was a cropped section of a larger piece of artwork, meaning no two medals were the same. That was a lot of work for the Royal Canadian Mint, but it ended up being a lot of fun for Team Canada. Its 14 gold medals were the most won by any country during the games.

Now if only they were really gold.

-- Written by Jason Notte in Boston.

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