Nobel Prize Medal Fetches $4.7 Million at Auction

A 1962 Nobel prize medal for the discovery of the structure of DNA was sold at auction Thursday for $4.7 million, a world auction record for any Nobel prize.

The 23-carat gold medal won by James Watson was purchased by a buyer who wished to remain anonymous, said a spokesman for Christie's, the New York City auction house. It was the first Nobel medal to be offered at auction by a living recipient.

Watson made the 1953 discovery with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. His share of the prize money came to $17,000 that year, he wrote in a narrative for Christie's.

Part of the proceeds will go to the University of Chicago, Clare College Cambridge, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Long Island Land Trust and other charities, Watson said.

Crick's Nobel prize sold last year at Heritage Auctions for $2.2 million. He died in 2004. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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