The Nobel Prize medal is a circular medal measuring approximately 2.6 inches (66 mm) in diameter and is made of 18-carat recycled gold. All Nobel Prize medals feature a profile portrait of Alfred Nobel on the front (obverse).
The reverse side varies according to the category. The medals for the “Swedish” Nobel Prizes—physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature—share a reverse designed in 1901 by Swedish sculptor Erik Lindberg. These medals bear the Latin inscription “Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes.” Each category’s medal uses imagery specific to the institution that awards the prize.
The Nobel Prize for Peace was designed by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland and carries the inscription “Pro pace et fraternitate gentium.” The Nobel Prize for Economics, designed by Gunvor Svensson-Lundqvist, does not have an inscription on its reverse.