Chaco War Nobel Peace Medal

[HerbyF]

A 1936 Nobel Peace Prize discovered at a South American pawn shop is heading to the auction block.

The 1936 Nobel Peace Prize recipient was Argentina's foreign minister, Carlos Saavedra Lamas, who was honored for his role in negotiating the end of the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia.

[HerbyF]

Sorry I probably should have posted this on the inter-war board.

[carlos marighela]

Link? Any clues as to where it was found? I scoured the militaria and numismatic shops in Buenos Aires a few years ago looking for a Malvinas campaign medal and found them quite difficult to locate. Nazi war medals and memorabilia on the other hand.......

[HerbyF]

Just saw the news article on MSN.   http://news.msn.com/offbeat/1936-nobel-peace-prize-to-be-auctioned-in-maryland

[former user]

I scoured the militaria and numismatic shops in Buenos Aires a few years ago looking for a Malvinas campaign medal and found them quite difficult to locate. Nazi war medals and memorabilia on the other hand.......

from my experience war medals tend to land in such shops when either the connection to the event is lost (veterans die, etc) or the recipients are in financial troubles. If neither of this is the case with Malvinas veterans....

[HerbyF]

I just noticed this news article & remembered a few threads refferencing the Chaco wars and thought this might be of interest to some of you. Maybe even spark up a little interest.

[Hammers]

I pity Sr Lama for his  relatives who had such disregard of the significance of the prize and his contribution to toss it like that.

[carlos marighela]

Given the value of gold, let alone the medal and given the current parlous state of the Argentine economy, I'll bet that any surviving kin are probably kicking themselves.

I'm left wondering as to whether Sr Lamas' solution to brokering the peace was to offer every second Bolivian a spot as a street vendor in Buenos Aires. It has certainly been a successful strategy if it was.