Oscar statuette is arguably one of the most instantly recognisable objects in the world – and one of the most coveted.
The gold statuette is considered to be the highest industry accolade. A small piece of cinematic history which has countless fascinating stories and anecdotes behind it.
Bearing all this in mind, and the fact the 24-carat gold-plated award costs £321 ($400) to make, according to Entertainment Weekly, you’d think they were worth a small fortune.
However, it was revealed that an Oscar is not valued more than $1 because before selling it anywhere else, the award must be offered to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for just $1.
In fact, a court ruling was passed in 1950 which obligates everyone receiving an Academy Award that if they want to sell it, they will have to offer it first to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science for just $10.
This ruling was further extended in 2015 which now makes people donate their Oscar back to the Academy for just $1.
The Academy Awards 2017 witnessed a major blunder last night when the presenters mistakenly announced the Best Picture Award to “La La Land” which in fact belonged to “Moonlight”. With all the confusion in between, the honest error was addressed and embarrassing situation was resolved.
Renowned artists like Michael Jackson and Steven Spielberg earlier purchased Oscars from the Academy for a whopping cost of $1,542,000 and $607,500 respectively but it was for donation purposes.
