Of course to the athletes, an Olympic medal is priceless. But just what is the value of an Olympic medal? If you are watching the games, you may have noticed the impressive size of this year’s medals, which  are heavier than medals of recent past Olympics. With gold prices near record highs, they are worth more too. CNBC tallies up the worth of a medal in a recent article, “What’s the Cost of Olympic Gold?”

Weighing between 500 and 576 grams, the Vancouver medals are the heaviest medals ever. Olympic medals actually contain more silver than gold–a gold medal actually can contain less than 10 percent of the yellow metal. Based on prices taken February 12, 2010, this year’s gold medal contains $210 worth of gold and $290 in silver, for a total value of $501. Read more, and find out which other famous award medals actually are pure gold.