Who makes the medals?

Answer 1

What it's made of? -- The gold medal is actually made mostly of silver, but must be gilded with at least 6 grams (0.21 ounces) of pure gold according to the International Olympic Committee standard. The silver must be at least 925-1000 grade. This year the Chinese have included one-of-a-kind jade rings that lay imbedded upon one side of the medal. The jade used is one-of-a-kind because it is not man-made and thus uses a substance that is equally unique to that of the athletes' ability it may belong to. Which is why the jade design was chosen by the Chinese Olympic Commission. Which leads to the answer of one of your next questions:

Who makes them? -- It is the responsibility of the host city to design one half of the medals (i.e. the Chinese chose to have jade, a natural material found most prominently in their country, to be place on one side of the 2008 Olympic medals). It is also the full responsibility of the host country to forge the medals before the games begin.

What is gold medal worth? -- The price of gold changes year to year so the answer to the question would change accordingly. If you discount the fact that truly the Olympic gold medal has priceless sentimental and nationalistic value and simply look at it as a metal medallion with monetary value set accordingly to the composition of the silver and gold used to create it then the value of the gold medal as of August 2008 would be roughly $220 USD. The jade is truly priceless due to it's one-of-a-kind nature, thus in auction could fetch much more but, of course, an indeterminable amount.

Answer 2

A series of flat disks of a specific size and weight are carefully prepared for the striking of the medals. As noted the first and second prize medals are make of pure silver. The disks to be struck into third place medals are made of bronze. The disks are placed in a powerful hydraulic press and the design is literally pressed into the face of the medals using thousands of pounds of force. This same method is used for virtually all monetary coinage around the world. All medals are sent to be finished by the hands of expert craftsmen in the following the disk striking phase of production. During this phase the clips used to attach the ribbons are soldered to the medals.