The Nobel Prize Medal is the gold medal presented to recipients of the Nobel Prize, alongside a diploma and a monetary award. Each medal bears a portrait of Alfred Nobel, while its reverse design identifies the prize category or awarding institution. The medals combine commemorative relief sculpture, inscriptions, and personalized engraving. A separately designed medal accompanies the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, which was first awarded in 1969 and was not one of the five prizes established by Nobel’s will. (nobelprize.org)
Establishment and artistic authorship
The statutes of the Nobel Foundation prescribe a gold medal bearing Nobel’s image and an appropriate inscription. They specify its presentation on 10 December, the anniversary of his death, together with the diploma and prize payment. The medal is therefore a formally defined component of the award rather than an incidental commemorative souvenir. (nobelprize.org)
Swedish sculptor and engraver Erik Lindberg designed the medals for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature. Their reverse designs required approval by the respective awarding institutions and were not completed for the first award ceremony in 1901. Correspondence indicates that the first laureates received temporary base-metal medals; the definitive medals were completed in 1902. Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland designed the Peace Prize medal, with Lindberg preparing its dies. (nobelprize.org)
The resulting objects belong to the tradition of medallic sculpture: a portrait commemorates the founder, while an allegorical scene represents the field being honored. Their imagery varies by institutional function rather than by the particular discovery or literary work recognized in an individual year. (nobelprize.org)
Portraits and inscriptions
The medals for physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature share the same front, or obverse, showing Nobel’s profile and his birth and death dates, 1833–1896. The Peace Prize and economic sciences medals also show Nobel, but use different portraits and surrounding designs. (nobelprize.org)
The four Swedish Nobel categories share the Latin inscription Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes. Adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, it associates the award with the improvement of human life through invention, arts, and knowledge. The phrase’s use of artes is broader than the modern category of fine art. A laureate’s name is engraved on a plate on the reverse of these medals; on the peace and economic sciences medals, it appears on the edge. (nobelprize.org)
Designs of the Swedish Nobel categories
The Nobel Prize in Physics and Nobel Prize in Chemistry use the same design. Their reverse represents Nature as a goddess resembling Isis, emerging from clouds and holding a cornucopia. The Genius of Science lifts the veil covering her face. This paired composition presents scientific investigation through the visual metaphor of revealing Nature. The medal is associated with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards both prizes. (nobelprize.org)
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has a different allegory: the Genius of Medicine holds an open book in her lap while collecting water flowing from a rock to relieve a sick girl’s thirst. Rather than representing a specific treatment, the scene joins learning with assistance to the suffering. Its awarding institution is the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet. (nobelprize.org)
The Nobel Prize in Literature depicts a young man seated beneath a laurel tree, listening to a Muse. The imagery places literary creation within a classical tradition of inspiration. The institutional abbreviation ACAD. SUEC. identifies the Swedish Academy, and the laureate’s name appears beneath the figures. (nobelprize.org)
Peace and economic sciences medals
The Nobel Peace Prize medal shows three naked men embracing on its reverse, symbolizing fraternity among peoples. Its inscription, Pro pace et fraternitate gentium, means “For peace and fraternity among peoples.” The edge carries the French designation Prix Nobel de la Paix, the award year, and the recipient’s name. The medal measures 66 millimeters in diameter; its original 23-carat version weighed 192 grams, while the 18-carat version introduced in 1980 weighs 196 grams. (nobelpeaceprize.org)
The economic sciences medal was designed by Gunvor Svensson-Lundqvist. Its face combines Nobel’s portrait with the crossed horns of plenty of Sveriges Riksbank and an inscription recording the bank’s memorial dedication in 1968. The reverse displays the North Star emblem of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, a symbol dating from 1815, surrounded by the academy’s name. These elements distinguish the memorial prize from the awards founded under Nobel’s will. (nobelprize.org)
Materials and manufacture
The Swedish Nobel medals were originally made from 23-carat gold and weighed approximately 200 grams. Later production uses 18-carat gold; the Foundation describes the Swedish medals as made from recycled gold. The Peace Prize’s official description instead specifies Fairmined gold. Material sourcing should therefore not be assumed identical across all categories. (nobelprize.org)
Myntverket in Eskilstuna manufactured the Swedish medals from 1902 through 2010. Norwegian production followed in 2011; from 2012, Svenska Medalj in Eskilstuna manufactured the Swedish Nobel and economic sciences medals, while the Mint of Norway in Kongsberg manufactured the Peace Prize medals. Production includes checking the personalized engraving and protecting the finished surfaces against scratches. (nobelprize.org)