Not just Machado: Nobel laureates who sold, donated or gave away their medals

After Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado presented her Nobel medal to Donald Trump, the Nobel institution has issued a detailed statement making it clear that a Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked, even if a laureate chooses to give away the physical medal.

The Nobel body said the identity of a laureate is fixed in history regardless of what happens to the medal, diploma, or prize money.

'Nobel Prize and the laureate are inseparable'

Explaining the principle, the statement said that a Nobel Peace Prize laureate receives two central symbols of the prize: a gold medal and a diploma. In addition, the prize money is awarded separately. "Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize. Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize."

The Nobel institution made clear that a Peace Prize cannot be reassigned under any circumstances. "A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and applies for all time."

No comment on laureates' political choices

It also stressed that the Norwegian Nobel Committee does not comment on a laureate's political choices after the award. "The Norwegian Nobel Committee does not see it as their role to engage in day-to-day commentary on Peace Prize laureates or the political processes that they are engaged in. The prize is awarded on the basis of the laureate' contributions by the time that the committee’s decision is taken."

Laureates free to donate, sell, or give away medals

At the same time, the statement clarified that there are no restrictions on what a laureate may do with the physical items. "There are no restrictions in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money. This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items," it said.

Machado said she handed her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump on Thursday "as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom." She disclosed the gesture while speaking to reporters after meeting Trump to discuss Venezuela's future.

From Muratov to Hamsun: Past cases of medals changing hands

Machado is far from the first laureate to part with a medal. The Nobel body listed several prominent examples.

- Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Peace Prize medal and diploma were donated by his widow, Nane Annan, to the United Nations Office in Geneva in February 2024, where they are now permanently displayed.

- Norway's first Peace Prize laureate, Christian Lous Lange, has had his medal on long-term loan to the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo since 2005, where it is now permanently exhibited.

- Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, awarded the Peace Prize in 2021, sold his medal in June 2022 for $103.5 million—the highest price ever paid for a Nobel medal—and donated the entire amount to UNICEF's fund for Ukrainian refugee children.

- In other cases, Nobel medals have been sold or donated for personal or public causes. David Thouless's Physics Prize medal was donated by his family to Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s structure, sold his Medicine Prize medal in 2014 for $4.76 million, with proceeds partly earmarked for research; it was later returned to him by the buyer. Leon Lederman sold his Physics Prize medal in 2015 to cover medical expenses related to dementia.

- The statement also recalled one of the most controversial episodes involving a Nobel medal. In 1943, Norwegian author Knut Hamsun, a Literature Prize laureate, sent his medal to Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels as a gesture of thanks after meeting him in Germany. The current whereabouts of that medal remain unknown.

Nobel Peace Prize medal: Design and symbolism

The Nobel body also included technical details about the medal itself. The medal is cast in 18-carat gold, weighs 196 grams, and measures 6.6 centimetres in diameter. "It was designed by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland in 1901. The obverse features a portrait of Alfred Nobel, while the reverse depicts three naked men with their arms around one another’s shoulders, symbolising fraternity. The Latin inscription pro pace et fraternitate gentium means 'for peace and the fraternity of nations'."