Gold takes silver in price performance Olympics

With just 8 days to go, athletes at this summers' Olympiad in Beijing will be aiming for gold but investors could be better off with silver, according to research by Skipton Building Society.

Since the Seoul Olympics in 1988, the price of silver has outperformed gold by almost half (47%). Since the start of the modern Olympic movement in 1894, athletes have competed for the coveted gold, silver and bronze medals. The Olympic motto, ‘citius, altius, fortius' (‘faster, higher, stronger'), has meant the target has always been gold. However, investors may want to think differently.

Research, by Skipton Building Society, shows that the value of the gold in the medals presented at the Seoul Olympics is now worth £956,719 an increase of 87% over the 20 years that have passed. However, the price of silver has seen the value of the medals rise by 128%.

At the 1988 Seoul summer games, a total of 1,040 gold and silver medals were awarded to competing athletes and a further 110 to those in demonstration sports. These medals contained a total of 78.3kg of gold and 73.8 kg of silver. In the 20 years that have passed, the price per ounce of gold has risen from £247.85 to £462.65. Over the same period, an ounce of silver has more than doubled from £3.83 to £8.75.

Commenting, Steve Aldous, general manager of sales and marketing at Skipton, said, "Of course the medals themselves have a much higher value than just the precious metals they are made of but it is interesting to note that silver has outperformed gold on price.

"It's said that ‘all that glitters is not gold', and in this case it is certainly true. With any investment, whether it is a stock, commodity or even a high street savings account, just because it says ‘gold' it does not mean it will give you winning returns.

"At Skipton we believe that with saving and investing it is a marathon not a sprint. Long-term value is always better than a higher return that doesn't last beyond the first lap."