103056 | SWEDEN. Alfred Nobel/Nominating Committee silver Award Medal.

103056  |  SWEDEN. Alfred Nobel silver Award Medal. Issued circa 1901-1913 for participation on the nominating committee for the prize in medicine (26mm, 12.22 g, 12h). By Erik Lindberg (in 1901) at the Stockholm mint.

 

Bust left in frock coat; ALFR• / NOBEL – NAT• / MDCCC / XXXIII / OB• / MDCCC / XCVI across field // INVENTAS • VITAM • IUVAT • EXCOLUISSE • PER • ARTES (and they who bettered life on earth by their newly found mastery), basin and serpent-entwined staff of Aesculapius; wreath behind. Edge: Plain.

 

Ehrensvärd 22; Lagerqvist 3A. PCGS SP-64. Lightly toned. An immensely attractive example from the earliest series of these committee jetons.

 

In the world of medallic art, France may come to mind for its association with some of the most skilled and elegant craftsmen and their work, especially during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Any survey of medals and coins from this period will show the beauty that the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements provided to the numismatic scene. However, production of artistic medals was not limited to just France. Although Sweden is not as often represented in collections and literature devoted to numismatic art, it is not due to a lack of exceptional material produced by incredible sculptor-engravers.

 

One such artist was Johan Lindberg, most commonly known by his middle name, Erik. Born in Stockholm on the final day of 1873, Erik grew up with an artistic presence, as his father, Johan Adolph, was a famous sculptor and engraver of medals, even serving as a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. Focused intently upon his craft, Erik split most of the 1890s training at his father's studio and studying at the Academy. Following his graduation from the Academy, he earned a scholarship for study in Paris where he was greatly influenced by the styles of such luminaries as Louis-Oscar Roty and Jules-Clément Chaplain. It was during this period that he was tasked with the creation of the medals to be awarded for the newly established Nobel Prizes, one of the first of his numismatic contributions. While the reverse designs of these majestic medals vary based upon the subject matter celebrated, the obverses all display the same classical rendition of Alfred Nobel, the creator of the trust used to finance the prizes. Outside of the Peace Prize, presented instead in Oslo, and the Economics Prize, created much later by the Sveriges Riksbank, Lindberg's renditions continue to be used for the prize medals as well as the medals presented to the nominating committees.

 

Though the actual prize medals are almost never encountered in the market, the nominating medals do appear and have become quite popular as they are generally as close as one can realistically get to an actual prize medal—even if you are a president who claims to have ended 7 wars, or 10 wars, or whatever the current senile lie is.

 

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Upload: 15 September 2025.

 

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