George Olah’s chemistry Nobel prize the latest to be auctioned off

The chemistry Nobel prize awarded to Hungarian–American chemist George Olah in 1994 for his work on carbocations is the latest to be auctioned off. Bidding for the prize, which is made of 18kt gold and plated in 24kt gold, opened at $200,000 (£161,500) and it fetched a final price of $250,000 when the Nate Sanders Auctions closed on 26 January. Olah, a Jewish refugee and who emigrated to the US in the 1950s after surviving the German occupation of Hungary during the second world war, conducted ground-breaking research that led to the phaseout of leaded gasoline in cars. He died in March 2017 at his home in Beverly Hills, US, aged 89.