SPOKANE, WA --- June 7, 2016 When Charles E. Crutchfield, III, MD of Eagan, Minnesota discovered that the old medallion he had picked up at a sale years before might possibly be a genuine prototype of a Nobel Medal, he was thrilled. “I knew it was unique, whatever it was. There was just something I liked about it,” he explains.
His appreciation for the artifact grew when he reading a book entitled “Nobel Medals: The Royal Coin Cabinet” (ISBN 91-89256-11-5) by Lars Lagerquist, that a number of medals were made but not awarded during the earliest days of the Nobel Foundation’s operation of Alfred Nobel’s program to recognize contributions to peace and the sciences. Could Crutchfield’s medal be one of them?
Excited by the possibility, Dr. Crutchfield decided to find an expert to verify his belief. At significant expense and with considerable planning, Crutchfield and his two oldest children closed down his medical clinic and took off school to travel to the first available Antiques Road Show in Spokane, Washington.
Knowing that the hit PBS television show had a wide range of experts, Crutchfield viewed the Antiques Road Show as a credible way to have his medal inspected with the exciting possibility of having the discovery shared by the world at large, including friends and family who could not make the trip.
After making the trip to Eastern Washington with the medal safely stored in a protective box, the Crutchfields made it to the show’s taping. After standing in line for several hours, the big moment arrived, so they thought, when they reached an appraiser. After doing a quick google search on his laptop computer, the appraiser dispassionately told the Crutchfields there was nothing he could do to help them with the object, as he didn’t know how to value a Nobel Price Medal from 1902.
“A what?!?” Crutchfield exclaimed?
He didn’t hear the part about not making an appraisal. He only heard that the appraiser declared that it was a real Nobel Medal! Even more remarkable, another appraiser overheard the exchange and advised the Crutchfields to go to the “collectibles section” and try their luck there.
They immediately went to the collectibles section and stood in line for another lengthy period. When they finally made it to the front of the line, the appraiser from Heritage Auctions, told them they had a most interesting piece of significant value! They were shocked, amazed, and delighted. As one would expect, Crutchfield’s son and daughter excitedly asked if they would be going on the show.
Disappointingly, the appraiser revealed to them that at that point, all the show recordings had been completed and they had no more “video slots” available. Finding this puzzling, Crutchfield asked why the show was still doing appraisals if the show was done recording appraisals. Two very disappointed children who had traveled all the way from Minnesota to participate in the experience stood silently by.
Crutchfield’s son said, “Dad, why don’t you talk to one of the people with headsets on? They were nice to us when we came in.” When Crutchfield explained his case to one of the floor producers, he informed Sam Farrell, the show’sproducers. Farrell explained that deciding who was to be recorded was the job of the show producer, not an appraiser. He also indicated that, unfortunately, getting the Crutchfields on the show was now problematic, because they had already learned the value of the object which conflicts with the show’s tradition of having the revealed value be a surprise at the time of recording.
Dejected, the Crutchfields were about to collect their beloved medal and head home. Before they could leave, Mr. Farrell, as a perfect consolation, indicated that the Antiques Roadshow would record the appraisal and put it on the show’s website. It’s not the primetime show for all their friends to watch, but it was still pretty exciting to the family. Sympathetic staff assured the Crutchfields the web posting was even better because it would go on the website sooner – before the actual location broadcast – and they could send their friends and family a link to see it. It was also no small matter, according to staff, that as African-American family with such a unique and well recognized antique item, they would be a welcome change from the show’s normal participants and appraisers.
Excited and pleased with what appeared to be a magnificent solution, they waited in the green room in anticipation of the appraisal recording. The appraisal took place, and it went wonderfully, and the Crutchfields returned home.
Unfortunately, the segment never made it to the website. When Dr. Crutchfield contacted Antiques Roadshow to find out when it would appear after not seeing it for weeks, he was told, via email, that many segments never make it to the website, and there was nothing else the Roadshow staff could tell him.
Digging out Mr. Farrell’s business card from the event, Crutchfield contacted him and expressed the family’s disappointment. He appealed to Mr. Farrell to follow through on the assurances he made when they were in each other’s company in Spokane. Crutchfield explained to Farrell that he was embarrassed from telling friends and family the web posting was coming, but there would be no satisfaction. Mr. Farrell claimed that there was no consensus on the value of the coin amongst several experts, and, as a result, they decided to nix the web posting.
Crutchfield was confused. The expert the show had evaluate the Nobel medal was Kathleen Guzman, managing director of Heritage Auction House. Heritage is the group that auctioned off the famous “Francis Crick Nobel Medal” and was by all accounts very experienced in appraising Nobel medals. At the taping, Guzman told Crutchfield she had experience with the medals and was confident in her appraisal. Crutchfield could not understand why the show took such a different perspective after the fact, withdrawing support for the opinion of their own expert.
Despite the confusion and disappointment, the Crutchfield’s made one, last-ditch request for a video file of the appraisal for their own keepsake. The request was denied. Circumspect about the experience, Crutchfield says he does not regret making the trip. “Yes, it has diminished my interest in the show, as I am reminded of the frustration we experienced. And yes, I am happy the medal is not only real, but it has substantial value. But perhaps the most important thing was the life lesson for my children. While keeping our word and being honest in all we do has been the key to our success, there will be others – even entities we admire – that may not, which can be very troubling,” he explains. “The key is to focus on the positive and keep moving forward without straying from your own course of integrity.”
Alfred Nobel would be proud.
Contact Information:
Jenny DeMeglio
651-209-3628
jenny@crutchfielddermatology.com
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