President Donald Trump appears to have shared an image of the wrong Nobel Prize in a video on Twitter on Monday, ostensibly touting his achievements as a peacemaker.
The one-minute video says “Trump represents peace” and then shows the president with the Israeli prime minister and ambassadors from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. A Nobel Prize medal is superimposed on the video.
Trump was criticized for the video, as he did not win a peace prize, despite sometimes arguing that he should. But now it seems that the medal in question is not the one awarded to the winners of the peace prize.
John Kraljevich is a Democrat from South Carolina who identifies himself on Twitter as a historian and numismatist – a collector of coins and medals. He seems to be one of the first people to notice the president’s mistake.
“Professional medal here, I’ve cataloged / authenticated a Nobel Peace Prize before (brought in over a million dollars at auction),” said Kraljevich
“This is not even a Nobel Peace Prize. The medal pictured is awarded to physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine and literature.”
The professional medal guy here. In fact, I’ve cataloged / authenticated a Nobel Peace Prize before (it earned more than a million dollars at an auction).
This is not even a Nobel Peace Prize. The medal pictured is awarded for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine and literature.
Moron. https://t.co/hcQMbkypGG
– John Kraljevich (@JohnSpiroSpero) December 29, 2020
Kraljevich shared an image of the Nobel Peace Prize, which has a different design from the prizes awarded to the sciences. He also provided a link to a peace prize sold at an auction, which featured large photos of the medal.
The Nobel Prize website also confirms that the peace prize has a unique design and that it was, in fact, designed by someone different from the other prizes. The savings premium is also different.
The website notes that “laureates since 1901 have received Nobel Prize medals created based on the original drawings by Erik Lindberg.
As Erik Lindberg was responsible for the design of the ‘Swedish’ Nobel medals, Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland was tasked with designing the Norwegian peace medal in 1901.
“However, as Gustav Vigeland was a sculptor and not a medal engraver, Erik Lindberg made the blueprints for the Peace medal based on Vigeland’s designs. His designs are still in use today.”
The last US president to win the Nobel Peace Prize was Barack Obama in 2009. Photos of Obama giving his acceptance speech clearly show him with the unique peace prize medal, not the one featured in Trump’s video. In 2020, Trump was nominated for the peace award, but ended up going to the World Food Program.
OLIVIER MORIN / AFP / Getty Images