silver medal
Illustration — The 1896 Olympic silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives a gold medal and the third place a bronze medal. More generally, silver is traditionally a metal sometimes used for all types of high-quality medals, including artistic ones.
silver medal
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- award medal · second place
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Illustration — The 1896 Olympic silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives a gold medal and the third place a bronze medal. More generally, silver is traditionally a metal sometimes used for all types of high-quality medals, including artistic ones.
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Silver Medal of Military Valour
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In this article
Olympic Games
Olympic Games
During the first Olympic event in 1896, number one achievers or winners' medals were in fact made of silver metal. The custom of gold-silver-bronze for the first three places dates from the 1904 games and has been copied for many other sporting events. Minting the medals is the responsibility of the host city. From 1928 to 1968 the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli with text giving the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of an Olympic champion. From 1972–2000, Cassioli's design (or a slight reworking) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheatre for what was originally a Greek games, a new obverse design was commissioned for the Athens Games. Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design.
The Open Championship
The Open Championship
In The Open Championship golf tournament, the Silver Medal is an award presented to the lowest scoring amateur player at the tournament.
Military and government
Military and government
Some countries present military and civilian decorations known as Silver Medals. These include: • Austria′s Silver Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria • Italy′s Silver Medal of Military Valor • South Africa′s Silver Medal for Merit • The Civil Air Patrol′s Silver Medal of Valor in the United States.
Rejection of silver medals
Rejection of silver medals
In many sports with an elimination tournament, including those with a third place playoff (such as Olympic ice hockey, Olympic soccer, FIFA World Cup), silver is the only medal given to a team that loses its final game, whereas gold and bronze are earned by teams winning their final matches. Notable athletes such as Jocelyne Larocque (2018 Olympics) removed their runners-up/silver medals right after receiving them; Larocque was later ordered by the International Ice Hockey Federation official to put her silver medal back on.
Other awards
Other awards
The Zoological Society of London awards a Silver Medal "to a Fellow of the Society or any other person for contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology, including such activities as public education in natural history, and wildlife conservation." The Royal Academy of Engineering awards a Silver Medal "for an outstanding and demonstrated personal contribution to UK engineering, which results in successful market exploitation, by an engineer with less than 22 years in full-time employment or equivalent."
"Anglia resurges" silver medal struck by pope Julius III in 1555 to celebrate the return of England to the Catholic faith under queen Mary I. British Museum, London, UK.
Hispalois
1701 von Raimund Faltz in der Harzmünzstätte/Berlin gefertigte Medaille auf die große Fontaine im Großen Garten von Hannover-Herrenhausen, hier die Seite mit dem Portrait des Kurfürstlich Braunschweig-Lüneburgischen Prinzen Georg August, dem späteren King George II of Great Britain. Die hier gezeigte Silber-Prägung mit einem Durchmesser von Ø 50 mm und einem Gewicht von 65,695 g findet sich im
Foto: Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Ursula Hermann, Knaurs etymologisches Lexikon, 1983, S. 312
- 2.Friedrich Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 22. Auflage, 1989, S. 469
- 3.kehren. Eintrag im Abschnitt Etymologie.
- 4.Heinz Fengler/Gerd Gierow/Willy Unger, transpress Lexikon Numismatik, Berlin, 1976.
- 5.Max Bernhart, Medaillen und Plaketten, 1920, S. 12
- 6.Helmut Kahnt, Das große Münzlexikon von A bis Z, 2005, S. 279
- 7.Artikel 12
- 8.Jules Guiffrey, Médailles de Constantin et d’Heraclius, in: Revue Numismatique VIII, 1890, S. 87
- 9.Max Bernhart, Medaillen und Plaketten, 1920, S. 15
- 10.Max Bernhart, Medaillen und Plaketten, 1920, S. 20 ff.
- 11.Max Bernhart, Medaillen und Plaketten, 1920, S. 40
- 12.Klaus Bußmann, Elke Anna Werner. Europa im 17. Jahrhundert: Ein politischer Mythos und seine Bilder. 2004. 3-515-08274-3.
- 13.Gustav Friedrich Waagen, Kunstwerke und Künstler in Paris, 1839, S. 61
- 14.BGH, Beschluss vom 8. Dezember 1983, Az.: 1 StR 274/83, 1 StR 275/83 = , 200
- 15.Sächsische Numismatische Gesellschaft e. V. (Hrsg.), Medaillen aus Meissener Porzellan, Katalog, transpressverlag/Berlin, 1984
- 16.Eine Goldmedaille, die keine ist. 2. Februar 2014 (deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de, abgerufen am 10. September 2015).
- 17.Goldmedaille (fast) ohne Gold. Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). 2016-08-17.
- 18.Manfred Miller. Kirche und Religion – Medaillen aus Deutschland und angrenzenden Gebieten. 2022-01-01.
- 19.Die „Wundertätige Medaille“. 2021-05-17.
- 20.Sieben Dinge, die jeder Katholik über die Medaille des heiligen Benedikt wissen sollte. CNA Deutsch. 2020-07-11.
- 21.Sakramente und Sakramentalien. 2023.
- 22.Peter Menzel: Deutsche Notmünzen und sonstige Geldersatzmarken 1873–1932, Berlin 1982, S. 482
- 23.Heinz Fengler, …: transpress Lexikon Numismatik …, S. 238
- 24.Friedrich von Schrötter (Hrsg.), mit N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer, J. Wilcke: Wörterbuch der Münzkunde, de Gruyter, Berlin 1970 (Nachdruck der Originalausgabe von 1930), S. 276: Hosenbandtaler, allerdings hier als Medaille bezeichnet und den Unterschied nicht beachtet.
- 25.museum-digital:baden-württemberg: Nürnberger Steckenreiterklippe (10 Kreuzer an Wert)
- 26.Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatik (1976), S. 152: „Dieses Münzvergehen war durch die Münzunternehmer Simon und Itzig veranlasst worden“
- 27.Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatik (1976), S. 296
- 28.Helmut Kahnt: Das große Münzlexikon von A bis Z. (2005): Interimstaler aus Magdeburg, S. 205
- 29.Friedrich von Schrötter: Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (1970, Nachdruck 1930), S. 285
- 30.Autorenkollektiv, Medaillen aus Meissener Porzellan, Katalog, transpress-verlag, Berlin 1984
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Medals
1,069 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Siachen Glacier MedalTerminology
- Sijil KemuliaanTerminology
- Silesian EagleTerminology
- Silver Cross of RhodesiaTerminology
- Silver Medal for MeritTerminology
- Silver Medal of Military ValourTerminology
- Silver Service MedalTerminology
- Silver StarTerminology
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