A 12.4-kilogram Olympic gold medal that had been accidentally melted down by an American firm in 1957 fetched £3 million (about $8 million) in a London sale today. This is indeed one of the highest price of gold in history. The medal was made by Mappin & Webb, a British silversmith, for the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. It was later melted down by Johnson Matthey Co. of New York, which also made it into bullion, to satisfy the company's demand for gold during World War I. The 12-inch-long medal was made from 90 percent gold and 10 percent silver. It was bought in 1957 from Johnson Matthey by the sporting goods chain Sears, Roebuck and Co. for about $500. In the 1980s, Sears gave it to the Museum of Olympic History in San Francisco, which sold it to a private collector in 1998. Forbes magazine has reported that a record price per ounce was reached in September 1999, when the price of gold hit an all-time high of $290 in London. The highest price of gold in history was $546 per ounce, reached on January 21 in the same year. Buy new style gold earrings