Introduced in the 1860s by Cuban students returning from U.S. colleges as well as ported American sailors the sport of baseball remains king in Cuba. In spite of the 1958 embargo the MLB has seen its share of Cuban stars from Minnie Minoso and Luis Tiant of the past to the current crop of exciting talent in Yoenis Cespedes Yasiel Puig and Aroldis Chapman. In recent years the World Baseball Classic has given the Cuban National Team an opportunity to remind everyone of their prowess on an international level. But it is the Olympic Games where Cuba has achieved its greatest global success.

Baseball became an official Olympic sport for the first time at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games and for the five consecutive Games contested no nation came close to matching the Cubans. They won the gold medal in Barcelona Atlanta (1996) and Athens (2004) settling for silver in Sydney (2000) and Beijing (2008). By comparison USA has won three medals and just one gold. Featured here is a gold winner’s medal awarded to a Cuban player at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. The identity of this player will be revealed to the winning bidder. Cuba defeated Japan in a 13-9 slugfest in the final game. Jose Contreras was a member of this Cuban team. Baseball was removed from the Olympic program after the 2008 Olympics but will return at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Measuring 70mm in diameter and 5.5mm thick the gold medal is made of gilt silver with gold plating. The obverse adopted the design used since 1928 Amsterdam with Nike Goddess of Victory and the Coliseum in the background; the Olympic rings are perched between “XXVI OLYMPIAD” and “ATLANTA 1996”. The reverse has the 1996 Atlanta Games emblem and the sport pictogram for the event—in this case a batter to depict baseball. This was the first Olympics to have a sport-specific design on its winner’s medals. “Baseball” is also marked on the edge.

The medal is suspended from a 32” green and gold embroidered ribbon—stamped with the 1996 Games logo—that connects with a simple golden loop. The medal and ribbon together weigh 202 grams. Both remain in outstanding condition. The gold plating was known to be quite weak on these medals but this example shows far less wear and fading than usual. Includes is its original brown presentation box which remains pristine with hardly a scratch.