THE OSCAR: A LITTLE STATUE OF 300 DOLLARS

With just 35 centimetres of height (34,29 exactly) and a weight of 3,85 kilograms, The Oscar is one of the most coveted guerdon in the world., even though its real value is infinitely minor to the investments that companies make to obtain one of this little statues.

The Oscar is made 20 years ago by the enterprise of gold and silver work in Chicago R.S. Owens.

Alloying of britanio makes this statue and this is added successive coats of copper, nickel and silver, to be immersed finally in 24 karats liquid gold.

Its value is not known exactly but it is believed to be between 200 and 300 dollars (228 and 342 euros).

Precisely, in the year 2000, when 55 figures were stolen on the way to the Oscar ceremony, the Police estimated that the total value was $15,700 dollars, which indicated that each figure was $286 (326 euros).

This incident ended when the beggar, Willie Fulgear found 52 of the 55 figures in a container of the Korean neighbourhood of Los Angeles, which disappears on March 10, 2000 in the Bell Pier (California). The Academy rewarded Fulgear, inviting him to the Ceremony as a special guest.

The history of this unarticulated statue was born in 1927, when the prizes of The Hollywood Scenic Arts Academy were established.

Austin Cedric Gibbons, Director de Art MGM was in charge to design the award. So he sketched it on a tablecloth.

George Stanley was in charge of sculpturing and in 1929 this figure was given for the first time. Since then more than 2,400 Oscar have been given.

All those, who are rewarded, only have a few days to enjoy this new little figure, but soon after that they have to return it to R.S. Owens to have their names engraved. All those, who are not happy with the Oscar, can sell it but through R.S. Owens to avoid speculations. Any way, its price on the market can suffer severe variations, such as 600,000 euros that Steven Spielberg paid for the Oscar obtained by Clark Gable in 1934 for the film ‘It happened one Night’.