Well, Olympic gold medals aren't worth as much as you think.

Winning a gold medal is the kind of accomplishment athletes dream of. They work their entire lives for one. A gold medal is so much more than just a hunk of metal. So in that way, they're irreplaceable.

Its important to note that gold medals aren't actually gold. The practice of awarding all gold medals to the winners was abandoned in the early 20th century. Today, gold medals are mostly entirely silver-more than 95%, to be specific. In every gold medal, there's only 6 grams of gold, which comes out to a paltry $587 in value, according to NBC. Which means American Olympic swimmer Michael Phelp's entire 23 gold medal haul would only net him about $13,000.

But the sentimental value (plus the subsequent endorsement deals) that come with winning the gold? Priceless.