If you want to buy Leon Lederman’s Nobel Prize for physics, you’ll have to act fast. Supplies are limited, as they say, and bidding ends Thursday (May 28, 2015), according to Nate D. Sanders Auctions, the agency that’s conducting the auction on behalf of the longtime Fermilab director and former resident of Batavia, IL.

Lederman, now 92 and living in Idaho according to the Associated Press article, is auctioning off the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics in part because it was just sitting around gathering dust. The story has gained national and even international attention in the past 24 hours.

The minimum bid, apparently, $325,000, so if you are making a bid, you’d better be prepared to separate yourself from some hefty pocket change.

There have only been 10 Nobel Prize medals auctioned in the past, Nate D. Sanders Auctions auction manager Laura Yntema told the AP.

Lederman is arguably one of the most famous and respected folks ever to have lived in Kane County. You can read some of his accomplishments below, but the AP story said he came up with the idea of Fermilab, he was its director and innovator, he founded the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy and he won that little thing called the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Leon Lederman Bio

Source: fnal.gov website

The Leon M. Lederman Collection contains the multi-media records of the history (1922 – present) and administration (1978-89) of the second director of Fermilab.

Lederman’s experiences are linked with his long-term affiliation with Columbia University and New York City. His early award-winning research in high-energy physics brought him into national science policy circles and in 1963 he proposed the idea that became the National Accelerator Laboratory.

In 1977 Lederman led the team that discovered the bottom quark at Fermilab. The following year he was named director and his administration brought Fermilab into its position of scientific prominence by 1983 with the achievement of the world’s most powerful superconducting accelerator, the Tevatron. In 1988 Lederman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

During his term as director, Lederman emphasized the importance of math and science education as outreach to the neighboring communities. He then initiated the Saturday Morning Physics lectures and subsequently founded the Friends of Fermilab, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, and the Teacher’s Academy for Mathematics and Science.

In the AP article, Lederman’s wife, Ellen, joked that there really isn’t much to do with the medal except maybe a coaster.

“It’s really a wonderful thingm” she told the AP. “But it’s not really anything we need in our log cabin in Driggs, Idaho.”

Nate D. Sanders Announcement

SOURCE: natedsanders.com

The 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded to particle physicist Leon Lederman for his discovery of the muon neutrino, a particle 200 times the size of an electron.

Lederman, along with colleagues Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger, found the muon neutrino in 1962 while using a high energy particle accelerator. They discovered that in some cases a muon (rather than an electron) was produced, illuminating the existence of a new atomic particle.

Lederman was also instrumental in the discovery of the bottom quark in 1977, and was the champion of the Superconducting Super Collider. His popular 1993 book ”The God Particle: If the Universe is The Answer, What is The Question” was released to critical acclaim.

This Nobel Prize is made of 18kt gold, plated in 24k gold, as were all Nobel Prize medals awarded after 1980. Medal features the relief portrait of Alfred Nobel to front, with his name and the years of his birth and death. Verso features a relief of the Goddess Isis, whose veil is held up by a woman who represents the genius of science. Encircling the medal are the words ”Inventas vitam juvat excoluisse per artes”, translating to ”And they who bettered life on earth by their newly found mastery’.”

Lederman’s name and 1988 in Roman numerals are engraved on a plaque below the relief of the two women, with ”Reg. Acad. Scient. Suec.” also written, an abbreviation for The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Etched upon the medal is the name of Erik Lindberg, designer of the Nobel medal. Housed in the original red leather case with Leon Lederman’s name gilt stamped. Medal weighs 173 grams or just over 6 oz. and measures 2.5” in diameter, consistent with the original Nobel Prize awarded in 1988. Case measures 5.5” x 5.5” x 1”. Presented in near fine condition, and with an LOA from Leon Lederman.

Read More

• Former Batavia Resident, Fermilab Director Auctioning Nobel Prize
• Nobel Prize Winner Lederman Auctions Medal
• Physicist puts Nobel prize medal up for auction
• Retired Chicago physicist’s Nobel Prize up for auction, $325,000 to start
• NobelPrize.org
• Fermilab Today