1924 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC 2ND PLACE WINNER'S SILVER MEDAL PRESENTED TO DENMARK MEN'S CYCLIST WILLY HANSEN

Cycling at the 1924 Paris Olympics featured two road and four track events. It was only a men's competition at that time. Western Europeans dominated the podium, especially the host nation as France won gold in both road events and half of the track competitions. In Track Tandem, Lucien Choury and Jean Cugnot of France edged out 2nd place finishers Edmund Hansen and Willy Hansen of Denmark. Presented here is Willy Hansen's 2nd Place Silver Medal from the 1924 Summer Games. At the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, Willy would go on to win gold in the 1000-Meter Time Trial and get the bronze in the 1000-Meter Match Sprint.

Designed by André Rivaud and minted by Paris Mint, it weighs 78 grams and measures 55 mm in diameter and 3 mm thick. The obverse shows a winning athlete helping a fallen athlete to stand with the Danish recipient's full name "WILLY FALCK HANSEN" engraved at the top; a tiny "A.RIVAUD” is engraved next to Olympic rings at the bottom. The reverse shows an array of sporting equipment surrounding “VIIeme OLYMPIADE PARIS 1924”. Stamped on edge is "2 ARGENT," the latter the French word for silver to denote its internal composition. Very well-preserved in both color and texture, the medal presents in extremely fine condition with minimal handling. Only 304 silver medals were minted (same number of gold and bronze), making it all the more special to be able to acquire one at auction. To acquire a winners medal with the recipient's name engraved before 1960 is incredibly rare.  Overall, USA dominated the medal count with 99 total and 45 golds, with Finland a distant second at 37 total and 14 golds, respectively.