BOSTON, MASS.- Boasting an unprecedented selection of winner's medals, rare torches, and outstanding ephemera, RR Auction's January 2022 Olympic auction is set to be a record-breaker.

Highlights include Daniel Frank's St. Louis 1904 Olympics silver winner's medal for long jump. Silver, 39 mm, 39 gm (51 gm with bar and chain), designed and minted by Dieges & Clust, New York. The front, inscribed "Olympiad, 1904," depicts a victorious athlete holding a wreath in front of an ancient Greek athlete frieze and the Acropolis. The reverse pictures a Standing Nike and bust of Zeus, engraved with the event's name within a wreath, "Running Broad Jump." Includes a period leather case for the medal, and an impressive period leather scrapbook.

A Jewish member of the New West Side Athletic Club in New York City, Dan Frank made the United States' track and field team at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics and competed in the long jump (then called the broad jump). During the competition, Frank won the silver medal with a leap of 22' 7 3/4″ (6.89 m), finishing second to fellow American Myer Prinstein, who set the Olympic record with a jump of 24' 1″ (7.34 m) and exacted revenge on Frank who had recently bested him at the 1904 Metropolitan AAU Championships. Modified by its recipient to be worn and displayed with pride, this marvelous early Olympic winner's medal is only the second we have offered from the historic III Olympiad.

Also up for bid is an exceedingly rare gold medal for 'Ice Hockey' from the Lillehammer Winter Games. Highly desirable winner's medal issued for the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics. Gilt silver, 82 mm, 142 gm, by Ingjerd Hanevold; manufactured by Th. Marthinsen of Tonsberg. The medal contains a polished circular piece of 600 million-year-old sparagmite that was collected from the Lillehammer Olympic Park during the construction of the Lysgardsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena. The front of the medal features the Olympic rings in gold, with the case's ice crystal design and the interior stone engraved, "Lillehammer '94" and "The XVII Olympic Winter Games"; the reverse retains the ice crystal design and includes the Lillehammer Games emblem with a large pictogram of an ice hockey player, and the inset stone is engraved with the sport: "Ice Hockey." The rim bears the initials of the designer and mint, and the medal bears slight scuffing, most noticeable to the front side. Includes its original blue and maroon grosgrain ribbon that replicates the ice crystal motif.




According to Hanevold, she designed the medals to be 'humorous, sober, and recognizable' and that their design is 'Norwegian through and through.' Her choice of sparagmite was in keeping with the guiding principles behind the Lillehammer Games as a means of presenting Norway's genuine natural surroundings and increasing national environmental awareness. 'The medals symbolize the very essence of Norway, the Norwegian mountain landscape. The stone also serves a symbolic function; it reminds us of how precious our earth and nature are, and how important it is that we protect them.'

In addition are silver medals from London, Nagano, Garmisch, and Torino.

Among more than 30 Olympic torches is a rare torch from the first Winter Olympics relay at Oslo. The historically significant Olympics torch is constructed of a silver-colored brass and steel alloy, designed by Geir Grung and Adolf Thoresen. The oval-shaped top is engraved with large Olympic rings and a representation of the relay route from Morgedal to Oslo. The handle and bowl exhibit various scuffs and scratches. This first-ever Winter Olympics torch relay was designed to honor the origins of skiing, beginning in Morgedal, county of Telemark, at the birthplace of 19th century legend Sondre Norheim, considered the father of skiing in Norway. The symbolic flame was then carried 225 km by a total of just 94 torchbearers, arriving two days later at Oslo's Bislett Stadium on February 15 for the opening ceremony. Exceedingly rare, a total of only 95 torches were produced. A rare and important torch used in the first torch relay in the history of the Olympic Winter Games.

The nearly 200-item sale is bolstered by assorted participation medals, badges, and other interesting collectibles from Olympics past.

Online bidding for the Olympic auction from RR Auction will conclude on January 20.