Extremely desirable winner's medal issued for the Melbourne 1956 Summer Olympics. Gilt silver, 51 mm, 69 gm, by Giuseppe Cassioli; manufactured by K. G. Luke. The front, inscribed, "XVIth Olympiad, Melbourne, 1956," features a 'Seated Victory' with the Colosseum in the background; the reverse portrays a winner with palm branch being carried by jubilant athletes. Includes a second-place white plastic case by K. G. Luke/Casecraft, which bears two neatly repaired cracks to sides that in no way affect its working condition. This prize medal design had been adopted from the Amsterdam 1928 Summer Games, with the only alteration for 1956 being a change in wording to reflect the year and location. There were 280 of these gold medals produced, with 273 of them being awarded. A scarce and highly attractive first place medal from the first Olympiad to be staged in the Southern Hemisphere. From The Mason Dinehart Collection.
