In 1950 the Academy introduced a law prohibiting the sale of the Oscars. The real price of the statuettes is actually one dollar. In the event that a person wants to get rid of one of the awards, they cannot sell it and will have to return it to the Academy for that price.
Since 1951, all Academy Award winners must sign an agreement that they “shall not sell or otherwise dispose of the Oscar statuette, nor permit it to be sold or disposed of by operation of law, without first offering to sell it to the Academy for the sum of $1”.
It is composed of 24-karat gold-plated bronze. The sleek award stands 13.5 inches tall and weighs a hefty 8.5 pounds. If cast in 24-karat gold, the award would weigh 22.7 pounds, a mass equivalent to a large watermelon or two-year-old child. Gold is 2.7 times as dense as bronze.
There is no direct cash prize for winning an Oscar, no cheque is made out to the winners… but the those lucky enough to lift the 13 and a half inch tall golden statuette, crafted by Polich Tallix fine art foundry in New York's Hudson Valley, will certainly see a boost to their bank account, if not an immediate one.
That's because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the Oscars, has strict rules in place to prevent winners from profiting off of the sale of their trophies.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts and coordinates the awards each season, has strict rules regarding the statuettes. The official regulations state that winners cannot sell their Oscar without first offering to sell it back to the Academy for $1, which makes each one worth a mere $1.
The actual scrap value of an Oscar, meanwhile, is estimated to be between around $400 to $650 based on calculations from WalletHub and Money.com, but that figure doesn't take into account the years of work, dedication, or sentimental value attached to each statuette.
The statuettes are solid bronze and plated in 24-karat gold. Due to a metal shortage during World War II, Oscars were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, the Academy invited recipients to redeem the plaster figures for gold-plated metal ones.
The modern Oscar stands 13.5 inches tall with a weight of 8.5 lbs, and it is made of solid bronze with a electroplated coating of 24-karat gold. However, the world's most beloved trophy wasn't always made this way.
This provision shall apply also to the heirs and assigns of Academy Award winners who may acquire a statuette by gift or bequest”. So while each statuette costs approximately $400 to produce, their face value is just a dollar.
Based on the cost of materials, each award is estimated to be worth $15. However, once the statuette has been awarded, the actual value drops to 0. because the Recording Academy. prohibits the resale of its awards.
Made in solid bronze and plated in 24-karat gold, the 1-foot tall, 8-pound golden statuette has become one of the most recognizable and desired trophies in the world since the first Academy Awards in 1929.
What's the difference between an Oscar and a golden globe?
The Golden Globes recognises excellence in both television and film, like the Emmys and Academy Awards in one, whereas the Oscars are focused solely on film. The awards are very different in style and tone too, the Oscars are very much portrayed as a serious event for those in the film industry.
While some gold medals are solid gold, others are gold-plated or silver-gilt, like those of the Olympic Games, the Lorentz Medal, the United States Congressional Gold Medal and the Nobel Prize medal. Nobel Prize medals consist of 18 karat green gold plated with 24 karat gold.
It depicted, like it does today, a knight holding a crusader's sword while standing on a film reel. The five spokes on the film reel represent the five original branches of the Academy: actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers. The statuette was made of gold-plated bronze.
It is believed that the statue itself is actually modelled on Emilio Fernandez, who was a Mexican filmmaker and actor. The story goes that when working in Hollywood, he met the wife of Cedric Gibbons. He asked Fernandez to pose naked for a sketch to create the basis for the trophy.
While based on a digital scan of an original 1929 Oscar, the statuettes retain their modern-era dimensions and black pedestal. Cast in liquid bronze from 3D-printed ceramic molds and polished, they are then electroplated in 24-karat gold by Brooklyn, New York–based Epner Technology.
If you do get your hands on an Oscar statuette minted before 1950, you're in luck. Although the Academy changed the rules in 1950 to restrict the sale of Oscars, there were no rules against it prior to that. And over 150 of these early awards have gone to auction.
The statues go only to the producers, not executive producers or associate or anything else. Technically, only three producers can be nominated, though the Academy acknowledges that there are producing teams.
The Award of Merit statuette, commonly known as the “Oscar,” is the copyrighted property and registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (“Academy”).
The Oscars are considered one of the most prestigious award shows in the world, and they are presented each year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Emmy Awards are also highly acclaimed, but the awards are distributed to distinguished individuals, shows, and series in the television industry.
Walt Disney holds the record for the most Oscars won by an individual with a total of 22 competitive awards and four honorary awards. Disney was nominated 59 times throughout his career, receiving one award posthumously.
Oscar statuettes seem slender, but they're heavier than they look: Topping the scales at 8.5 pounds and 13.5 inches tall, hoisting these little gold men over your head is akin to lifting a large infant into the air. Multiple statuettes are made for every category each year, and it takes three months to make 50.
The Academy Award statuette's nickname, “Oscar,” has three possible sources. Actress Bette Davis claimed that the name derived from her observation that the backside of the statuette looked like that of her husband Harmon Oscar Nelson. Columnist Sidney Skolsky maintained that he gave the award its nickname.
