Olympic Medals

One of Jesse Owen's Olympic medals recently sold of 1.4 million making it the highest price for a piece of Olympic memorabilia.

It was purchased by the billionaire owner of the Penguins Hockey team. While there was no specific comment from the new owner, the auction house said that Burke plans to make an educational tour of the collections he owns. (He also owns the William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize for Literature).

What do you think is the value of the public auctions? The items have the chance of being bought by a museum to be added to their collection and while we already know that a museum is defined by what they have in their collection, what if a museum buys the item and hides it away for years. In contrast, like the medal, what if it is purchased by a private individual. It may be hidden away in a safety deposit box or a collectors home never to see the light of day or it may be put on display in some institution that this purchaser is affiliated with. What do you think the value is in each option? I believe that in some circumstances if an individual purchases the item and plans to display it in an educational institution, it is better than a museum that would hide the item away for many years, however it must be conditioned with that when the item is on display it must be correctly preserved and protected because if not the item itself could be lost to mis-handling. It is always though in the best interest of the item to be purchased by a museum or similar institution that has the resources to preserve and make available the items of historical significance.

Also is there value in that these items come up for sale in public auction every now and again? I believe there is because it creates interest in the items themselves and spurs individuals to learn more not just about the item but the individual and event behind the item. If items are just sold privately from person to person or person to museum there is less publicity and less public knowledge.

Public auctions of items can generate interest surrounding the items causing more people to learn of its history. Furthermore, if an item is sold into the private hands of an individual who will preserve and present the items in the public sphere, I believe that sometimes it can be better than a museum hiding the items away only to be rarely seen. For others to learn, history must be presented.

What do you think?