Why Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar is only worth one dollar

IT’S his most prized possession, but if Leo DiCaprio ever decides to sell his Oscar, he wouldn’t even be able to buy a can of Coke with the proceeds.

WE ALL know that Leonardo DiCaprio would never sell his Oscar because it took him five nominations and more than 25 years of acting to get one. But if he did, how much would he get for it?

Just $1 USD ($1.40 AUD).

According to Oscars regulations, if a winner wants to sell their gold statue, the Academy gets first dibs.

“Award winners shall not sell or otherwise dispose of the Oscar statuette, nor permit it to be sold or disposed of by operation of law, without first offering to sell it to the Academy for the sum of $1.00,” the regulations stipulate.

“This provision shall apply also to the heirs and assigns of Academy Award winners who may acquire a statuette by gift or bequest.”

While selling a family heirloom as invaluable as an Oscar seems ludicrous to most, it has been attempted before.

Leonardo DiCaprio, producer Arnon Milchan and director Steven Spielberg at the Governors Ball.

Forbes magazine estimates that nearly 150 of the golden beauties have been offered for sale, but not all successfully sold.

In 1989, Cyrus Todd, the grandson of famed producer Michael Todd, attempted to sell his grandfather’s Best Picture Oscar which he won in 1956 for film Around the World in 80 Days. The Academy shut down the planned auction and obtained a permanent injunction against Cyrus.

In 2007 the Academy sued the family of actress Mary Pickford for attempting to sell one of her Oscars.

The silent film star won two Oscars, a Best Actress award in 1929 for Coquette and an honorary Oscar for her contribution to motion pictures in 1975.

A jury ruled that if Pickford’s heirs want to sell her statuette, they first had to offer it to Academy officials, as per the regulation, which was implemented in 1951.

Oscars that were won before the rule came into effect in 1951 are a hot commodity.

In 1999, Sotheby’s sold the 1939 Best Picture statuette for Gone With the Wind to Michael Jackson for a record $1.54 million.

Leonardo DiCaprio poses with his Oscar at the 88th Annual Academy Awards Governors Ball.

Magician David Copperfield purchased the 1943 Best Director Oscar for Casablanca in 2003 for $232,000. Apparently, he keeps it in his bedroom.

A few high profile celebrities have opened their chequebooks and stepped in on behalf of the “no-resale” tradition.

When Bette Davis’ 1938 Best Actress Oscar for Jezebel was offered for sale in 2001, director Steven Spielberg snapped it up for $578,000 and returned it to the Academy.

Similarly, Kevin Spacey and former Universal Studios chief Lew Wasserman have rescued Oscars at auction and returned them to the Academy.

Originally published as Why Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar is only worth one dollar