Awards

is our motto at Awards of Outstanding International Importance, and we would like to welcome you to the exciting world of collecting world-class award-objects that have belonged to statesmen and heroines. We offer premium-quality historical objects and sets or Archives: mostly medals, diplomas, and related documentation (e.g. official photos).
We handle unique (and, in some cases, poignant) objects or groups/Archives, which significantly pertain to the most iconic and emotive dramas and institutions of modern times, from (the searing sacrifices in) the epic struggle vs. Hitler, to the Nobel Prize and the Olympic Games .
Since the spectrum of premium awards ranges from a women's suffrage hunger strike medal to a Nobel Prize, it is vast enough to attract anyone with more than a cursory interest in historical events or the people who participated in them. At the core of the value of premium award-objects are the deep (and broadly held) human sentiments surrounding their creation and issuance; to many recipients or societies, such objects can be profound, sublime, or sometimes literally priceless, and are almost always among the most important heirlooms bequeathable by a person (i.e. a recipient).

Our Mission
To present the advantages of collecting premium awards, as compared to collecting art, "rare" coins, and the various "rare collectibles", (e.g. pertaining to baseball or pop music) which are so hotly touted as having value that they bring millions of dollars. Here you will find portable monuments, true heirlooms for posterity, which are usually seen only in museums: such objects of honor, many of them quite aesthetically impressive, can more vividly express humanity's ultimate quest in modern times to build peace and prosperity, and to understand the world, than do coins or most art. These objects are ideal for someone aiming to lend gravitas to an office or other significant room.

Our approach to collecting draws partly from the Roman Catholic Church’s system of classifying relics, supplemented by our emphasis on the context of the presentation of awards; the depth with which we try to do justice to this context dwarfs that attempted anywhere else, save for those efforts expended on famous or hugely-expensive art works, or on objects featured in “vanity auctions”. We aim to be no less than the leaders of worldwide museological thought.

Contact Information

was a Sothebys.com Associate. All Sothebys.com Associates were professional dealers selected and approved by Sotheby's. Only Sothebys.com Associates were permitted to offer property on Sothebys.com. (In May 2003, Bradstreets.com replaced Sothebys.com.)

(World-Class Awards to Statesmen and Heroines)

J.A. Schramek & Associates

Premium-quality modern historical relics

Awards of Outstanding International Importance to Statesmen and Heroines

"Without peer in this realm or any other!"

We are a MAX Show Certified Dealer, see http://www.germandaggers.com/maxcertified.htm , and http://www.germandaggers.com/maxcertifieddealers.htm
(scroll down to the letter "S" group to find "Schramek").

From http://www.themaxshow.com/dealers.htm :
"We established a "MAX CERTIFIED DEALER" program. The program follows simple guidelines, similar to the thousands of neighborhood Better Business Bureaus designed to promote consumer confidence throughout the United States."

The Ultimate Collectible: the 1935 Nobel Prize
in Physics Medal and Diploma set of Sir James Chadwick, bestowed for discovering the neutron :

1) Medal is 23 K gold, 66 mm. diameter, 206.8 grams, struck by the Royal Swedish Mint;

2) Diploma has text and graphics hand-painted (by artist Elsa O. Noreen) onto stretched vellum, mounted by Beck & Son (Stockholm) into a morocco-leather folio binder, with each panel extending 11 3/8 x 15 1/4 inches (29 x 38.5 cm.);

3) Hardcover Alfred Nobel, one of 100 special copies, this (#64) presented to Chadwick by the Nobel Foundation; and

4) Other Nobel Prize- related medals made by the Royal Swedish Mint.

Unlike most collectibles, (which appeal to specific consituencies, e.g. baseball cards' appeal to baseball fans) a Nobel Prize (esp. one as historically important as Chadwick's) is of such stature that it can appeal to all intelligent persons.
The Nobel Prize is well-nigh universally seen as symbolizing the pinnacle of human secular achievement;

Site Map (Last modified 20 January 2012)

Economic Times (India) 7 April, 2004 article by Vikram Doctor , "Nobel Price: way over Rs 10 lakh" quoting extensively (and fairly: "Schramek, a Chicago-based dealer, has the only Nobel for sale in world") and describing J. Schramek and his position, esp. about the appeal of the Nobel Prize, in an analysis of the Indian Government's offer of (a measly) $22,000 for return of the stolen 1913 Nobel medal of Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian national hero.

Testimonials:
Some aspects of our role in the resolution of India's 2004 stolen Rabindranath Tagore Nobel Prize medal replacement controversies

Aruna Srinivasan, on her blog "THE WAVES," reacted (on Thursday, April 8, 2004 in "Different strokes") to Mr. Doctor's article by agreeing with J. Schramek's assessment of the Tagore medal situation, concluding:

"There can be no prize tags for such treasures. Nor is India a rich country .... But then, even in plain speak of economic calculations, do you get a fair idea of what we lost?
.
...Or what we failed to preserve?"

The Chadwick section of this site, in particular, is undergoing considerable continual revision;
so please return occasionally to see additions etc.

Happily, the Nobel Foundation determined that it would be best if this Chennai-based firm were not to be seen as usurping the proper role of the Nobel Foundation. We at J.A. Schramek & Associates are proud to have been able to play a role in the prompt resolution of the momentary impasse, this resolution being announced just over a month after the emergence of the apparent impasse, see "Nobel Foundation to replace Tagore's stolen medal with replica" (OutlookIndia.com, 1 Oct. 2004)

After a small bit of hesitation by the Nobel Foundation to replace Tagore's stolen medal with a gold replica, (to the chagrin of some in India), an offer to do so came from a mint in Germany, see "Chennai-based firm to replace stolen Tagore Nobel medallion" (The Hindu, 28 Aug. 2004).

An Interview about Sir James Chadwick's Nobel Prize group, with J. Schramek, was shown on Swedish Television, during (the intermission of) the nationwide telecast of the Nobel Prize ceremonies, on 10 December 2006. To see, click here.

Chadwick's role, as one of the greatest heroes
of the WWII Allies' race to beat Hitler to
invention of the A-bomb, was emphatically stressed by Churchill, but is only slowly and
recently being appreciated by scholars.

Chadwick (above)
and Churchill

J.A. Schramek
& Associates

The Lore/Lure of the Nobel Prize: a Funny Story

Some time ago, J. Schramek encountered a friend whom he had not
seen for many years. As is normal for such a situation, the friend
asked, "what's new?".

Schramek:                              "I got a Nobel Prize!"
Friend, incredulously:              "A Nobel Prize?!"
Schramek:                               "I got a Nobel Prize!"
Friend:                                    "You mean, you won a Nobel Prize?"
Schramek:                               "No, I said "I got a Nobel Prize!"
Friend:                                     "What do you mean?"
Schramek, grinning sheepishly:  "I bought a hugely important Nobel Prize!"
Friend, roaring with laughter:     "OK, prankster!"

D.N. Pritt announced key anti-Nazi Legal Findings in 1933, thus helping to inspire an international movement of resistance to the Nazi threat to freedom. (expressed in art such as this Spanish workers' rights poster (right * ).

* Above is just a depiction,
an original of which is not provided in the group for sale.

Great Seal of Queen Victoria, wax, weighs c. 680 grams; diameter of 162 mm.

Pages with music:

Exchequer letters patent of Gladstone, 1873: "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank", a tribute to
banking in pre-WWI Britain, from the
movie "Mary Poppins"

The first Zionist flag * , introduced
in August 1898, just when Balfour received his Letter of Credence to negotiate with Germany.

Museological Considerations,
i.e. our working definitions and threshholds for deciding if an object (or group/Archive thereof) is worthy of being offered by us:

Premium Award : an object, or set thereof, bestowed (as a non-routine event) upon a designated, "premium" recipient, via the authority of
1) a major governmental or international institution;
2) an organization which at least came close to some success in its primary aim of controlling or influencing public policy, toward at least one issue of major importance, conducted by one or more major governmental or international institution; or
3) an organization which has happened, for whatever reason(s), to have become iconic (e.g. in sports, or other entertainment fields) among the populace within at least one major country.

Premium recipient: a recipient (a designated person or group)
1) . whose career made some disctinctive or substantial contribution to a major country or international institution, or to all of humanity; or
2) whose life had aspects which exemplified or dramatized an iconic or epic drama or development in modern times.
(The term iconic is used here in the neutral sense: the Holocaust has become iconic in the sense of being the apotheosis of supreme evil.
The instituting of m any of the most important awards owe their inspiration to religious traditions of venerating the relics of saints.)

We sometimes offer objects which can be seen as routine rather than premium, but only in exceptional circumstances (e.g. if the objects were issued to iconic persons, or under especially historic circumstances).

Orders and Medals Society of America, member since 1983

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Tagore and his Nobel Prize medal

Prices available upon request.

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Postal address
P.O. Box 300791,
Chicago, IL 60630, USA

Electronic mail
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the neutron's central role in nuclear explosions make Chadwick's Nobel Prize very arguably the most important one in all of world military history.

Major Sales of Awards and related objects in the last dozen years

Medal Owned by Washington, Lafayette Sold for $5.31 Million (by Sotheby's, December 2007)
From http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aksfW5CfuLrM
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MAGNIFICENT ORDERS GIVEN BY TSAR NICHOLAS I OF RUSSIA and other monarchs, to the FIRST EARL OF DURHAM, SELL FOR £4 MILLION IN LONDON AUCTION

• Order of St Andrew insignia sells for £1,320,000 (world auction record)
• Order of the White Eagle insignia sells for £852,000
• Order of St Alexander Nevsky insignia sells for £576,000
• Order of St Anne Grand Cross insignia sells for £372,000

A magnificent group of recently rediscovered Orders of Knighthood conferred during the 1830s upon John George Lambton, “Radical Jack”, the first Earl of Durham, by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, etc., were sold for a total of £4,057,080 by auctioneers Morton & Eden (June 2010).
From http://www.coinlink.com/News/medals-tokens/russian-orders-fetch-unprecedented-prices-at-morton-eden-auction/
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One of U.S. Gen. George Armstrong Custer's battle flags, left on the field of the Little Bighorn by the Indians, sold for $1.9 million, at an auction at Sotheby's (in December 2010). Sotheby's described the flag as a "silk guidon... some fraying, splits, and tears; some running of color; staining, including, evidently, blood stains." Of five guidons carried by Custer's battalion, it was the only one recovered.
From http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/12/11/Custers-flag-sells-for-19M-at-auction/UPI-68911292093448/#ixzz1PpgZDDpT

June 1999: $1.54 million at Sotheby's auction, for the Best Film Oscar awarded to the producer of Gone With The Wind.

The "ultimate" gallantry medal - the only double Victoria Cross from the Great War - has been bought by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft for a world record price of nearly £1.5 million (November 2009).
The previous world record for a VC paid at auction is £ 491,567 in Sydney, Australia. But it is rumoured the Imperial War Museum, using a grant from the Garfield Weston Foundaticharitable trust, paid £1 million in a private deal for the VC and Bar of Captain Charles Upham, a New Zealand soldier who served in the Second World War.
From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6624138/Lord-Ashcroft-pays-record-price-for-ultimate-Victoria-Cross.html

The 1781 siege of Yorktown map, which James Julia auctioneers sold for $1.15 million in February 2010, was hand done at the direction of Jean Baptiste Gouvion (who actually took part in the siege), a matter of days after the battle took place. It is believed this map had belonged to General George Washington himself.
From http://www.militarytrader.com/article/World-auction-record-for-Yorktown-battle-map/

Andreas Thies had Paul von Hindenburg's (Marshall's) Baton at his auction on 26 March 2011.... it sold for 360,000.00 euros. From http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293922&page=2 .
Thies' auction also got 300,000 Euros for the National Prize for Arts and Sciences medal and diploma presented to anaesthesiologist August Bier by Hitler in 1937, see http://www.andreas-thies.de/ergebnislisten_/44. Auktion vom 26.03.11.pdf .

The gold medal won by Mark Wells of the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team sold at auction (in Nov. 2010) for $310,700. (The Olympic medals awarded after 1912 have been gilded silver and only contain about 6 grams of gold).
From http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-06/mark-wells-s-1980-olympic-hockey-gold-medal-sold-at-auction-for-310-700.html

Manchester United buy Nobby Stiles 1966 world cup medal for record price at auction. Stiles is eighth 1966 squad member to sell his winners' medal.... The club museum bid £160,000... but will pay £188,200 in total including commission and VAT. (October 2010).
From http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/27/nobby-stiles-sells-1966-medal

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The Famous C.B., C.B.E., Fighter Operations ‘Triple’ D.S.O., ‘Double’ D.F.C. Group of Nineteen to Air Vice-Marshal J.E. ‘Johnnie’ Johnson, Royal Air Force, the Officially Recognised Highest Scoring R.A.F. Fighter Pilot of the 1939-45 War. Sold 10th December 2001 for £241,500 - The World Record Price for an R.A.F. Group at Auction.

The Remarkable and Unique G.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O. and Three Bars, D.F.C., A.F.C. Group of Eighteen to Air Chief Marshal Sir B.E. Embry, Royal Air Force, Blenheim and Later Mosquito Pilot, Who Was Shot Down Over Occupied France in 1940, Famously Evading Capture For Two Months Before Returning to Active Duty Including The Specialist Precision Bombing Operations on The Gestapo Headquarters in Aarhus, Copenhagen, and Odense, Whilst Holding the Rank of Acting Air Vice-Marshal; Later Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command, 1949-53. Sold 19th April 2007 for £155,350.

The Highly Important Large Gold Medal for Vittoria with Clasp Salamanca, and Small Gold Medal for Salamanca, to Major General Sir William Ponsonby, One of the Most Famous Cavalry Commanders of The Napoleonic Wars, Led the Charge of the Union Brigade and was Killed by the Polish Lancers in the Most Emotive Single Episode of the Battle of Waterloo. Sold 22nd July 2004 for £115,000 - The World Record Price for an Army Gold Medal at Auction.
From http://www.spink.com/departments/medals.asp
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The impressive DSO (Distinguished Service Order) and triple-barred DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) set of Captain P H 'Dutch' Hugo sold for £150,000 ($245,000) in spring 2010 at Spink. Cited for setting "a magnificent example for coolness and gallantry", Hugo was credited with 13 aircraft destroyed (five during the Battle of Britain), including successfully felling a German Messerschmitt, after his Spitfire's engine had stopped and both aircraft were in a freefall at 3,000 ft.

Also sold at Spink later that year, for £185,000 ($288,300) were the medals of Battle of Britain flying ace Bob Doe, which again combined a Distinguished Service Order with a Distinguished Flying Cross. Bob Doe is regarded as being the third most successful pilot overall at the Battle of Britain, credited with 14 victories, two shared victories, and having damaged other enemy aircraft.
From http://www.paulfrasercollectibles.com/section.asp?catid=77&docid=6355
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The top lot of the September 17-18, 2009 Dix Noonan and Webb sale was the C.B.E. and Polar Medal awarded to Commander John Robert Francis "Frank” Wild, the only man to explore Antarctica five times during the so-called Heroic Age. His four-clasp Polar Medal sold at £110,000 is unique.
From http://www.dnw.co.uk/medals/company/latestnews.lasso?story=306

The auction record for a Stalin or Lenin Peace Prize is $126,500 (incl. 15% auction commission), in the January 2009 New York Sale conducted by Baldwin's, Dmitri Markov, (http://www.russian-medals.net/pr-nysale20_22.pdf) and others. The lot contained only the Lenin Peace Prize medal and diploma (http://www.russian-medals.net/pics/nysale22-pp121_159.pdf) of Herbert Warnke, a leading East German Communist (boss of the E. German regime's Trade Union, and member of the Politburo) , whose impact outside of E. Germany was indiscernable. As Lenin Peace Prize Laureates go, Warnke must be judged overall to have been one of the least significant.

Prices available
upon request.