olympics – Personal Property Appraisals

The fanfare, emotion and sports competition of the 2012 Olympics has passed. Many collectors have found a way to extend the excitement year round by collecting Olympic memorabilia.

You can start out inexpensively by collecting pins, coins, stamps and mascots from recent years. Some collectors progress to a higher, more expensive level including medals and torches. There’s something for every interest and budget. To narrow down the choices begin collecting by category, year, country or sport.

I have a modest Olympic collection of my own, and display many items in my office. It started off when I worked at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. I was stationed at the USC Olympic Village where I was able to trade pins with the athletes and collect small souvenirs. Over the years, I have added items from other olympics to my collection. However, I realized that the pins I collected directly from the athletes in Los Angeles mean the most to me because of their personal connection.

As an appraiser, one of the most exciting opportunities I’ve had was to appraise a silver award medal owned by an olympic athlete. It was an insurance appraisal and it gave me the opportunity to examine the sales comparison approach (what similar items have sold for) versus the cost to reproduce the medal.

If you still want a unique souvenir from the London Olympics, you can purchase something at the Official London 2012 Auction website. They are auctioning off everything from game used equipment, to ceremony props and torches to help defer the cost of putting on the games.