Immensely desirable winner’s medal issued for the Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics. Gilt silver, 55 mm, 75 gm, by Raoul Benard, Paris. The front features a victorious athlete holding ice skates and skis high in the air with the Alps in the background; the reverse is inscribed at length in French, “Chamonix Mont-Blanc Sports D’Hiver, 25 Janvier–5 Fevrier 1924, Organises par le Comite Olympique Francais sous le haut patronage du Comite International Olympique a l'occasion de la celebration de la VIII Olympiade [Chamonix Mont-Blanc Winter Sports, 25 January–5 February 1924, Organized by the French Olympic Committee under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee on the occasion of the celebration of the VIII Olympiad].” Complete with official red leather presentation box. The 1924 Chamonix Games were the very first Winter Olympics and sixteen nations were represented. Only 294 athletes participated, making any Chamonix medal very rare—first place winner’s medals are, of course, the most desirable. According to the official medal count, only 33 first place gold winner’s medals were awarded.
