Gold medals were introduced in 1904 and were solid gold for the 1904, 1908, and 1912 Olympic Games. The makeup of the medal switched in 1916. Prior to the 1904 Olympics, first place winners earned ...

While the first-place medals for the 1904 and 1908 Olympics were actually made of solid gold, the Olympic Games have made the medals from silver plated with gold since the 1912 Olympics.