A collection of medals, trophies, awards and other rare objects collected by Professor Peter Higgs could fetch £50,000 at auction in Edinburgh this week.
The late Professor Higgs was the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who predicted the “God particle”.
The collection includes his Nobel Prize Diploma Citation, his Royal Society of Edinburgh Medal and the 2011 Edinburgh Award.
It also includes personal objects including his academic gown, Nobel badges and even his Rubik’s Cube.
Prof Higgs was a researcher at the University of Edinburgh in 1964 when he predicted a particle now recognised as fundamental to the creation of the universe and known as the Higgs boson.
He shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics after his work was confirmed by experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, bringing him worldwide fame.
Higgs died aged 94 last year at his home in Edinburgh, leaving an array of awards recognising his achievements and personal objects that took pride of place in his study.
Although Higgs left his Nobel Prize medal to the university where he first proposed the idea that would transform his life in his will, many of his other rare and prestigious awards are now being offered for sale in an online auction.
A total of 20 lots from the estate of the late physicist are among the highlights in Bonhams’ Winter Home & Interiors online auction running until Wednesday when they are expected to raise tens of thousands of pounds.
The highlight of the sale is Higgs’ Nobel Prize Diploma Citation, awarded on 10 December 2013 and now estimated to fetch £20,000-30,000.
Another leading lot is the iconic sculpture designed by the late Spanish artist Joan Miro, presented to Higgs as part of the 2013 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, which could fetch £2000-3000.
The 2011 Edinburgh Award, including the silver plated and gilded covered cup and presentation scroll awarded to Higgs in recognition of his “outstanding contribution” to the city, is expected to attract bids of £600-900, while the Edinburgh Silver Medal collected by Higgs in 2013 is valued at £500-800.
The Scottish Science Award presented by the Saltire Society in 1990 and The Kelvin Medal, awarded to Higgs in 1999 are each conservatively estimated to make £400-600; while the unique “Higgs Medal”, awarded to the physicist by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2012 is valued at £800-1200.
Other awards offered include a stunning bronze angel sculpture on a marble plinth presented to Higgs by Academia NDT International in 2018; the Oskar Klein Memorial Silver Medal, presented by the Stockholm Academy of Sciences in 2009; and the 1851 Royal Commission Medal awarded for his outstanding influence on science in 2017.
Unique personal objects offered include a framed mosaic of a Feynman diagram showing the Higgs boson, by the late British theoretical physicist Prof Fdelic Pirani; a portrait of Higgs by his friend the Scottish artist Fionna Carlisle; and cufflinks, pin badges, Nobel Prize shirt studs, ties and an academic gown.
More quirky objects offered include a “Higgs Boson Goose Game”, CERN playing cards, a jigsaw puzzle depicting the ATLAS Detector used to investigate the Higgs boson, an executive desk toy and Higgs’ own Rubik’s Cube, together valued at £200-300.
Charles Graham-Campbell, Director of Bonhams Scotland, said: “Professor Higgs created an incredible legacy in the scientific field.
“The Nobel Prize made him a household name and the awards that followed served to highlight the way in which he and his pioneering achievements were recognised and celebrated around the world.
“We are delighted to be able to bring highlights from his collection to auction, ranging from medals to personal items.
“One of my favourites among these (personal items) is the mosaic picture by Felix Pirani, who gave it as a gift to Higgs, from one eminent physicist to another, as a memento of his achievement.
“Apart from all the medals and awards, there are also quirky items such as the ‘Higgs Boson Goose Game’ and his Rubik’s Cube, which one can imagine on the desk in his office.
“We anticipate interest in this remarkable collection from private collectors and institutions.”
Higgs fell in love with Edinburgh after hitchhiking to the city en route to the Highlands in 1949.
He returned to undertake a two year post-doctorate degree at the University of Edinburgh in 1954 and in 1960 he landed a lectureship in mathematical physics.
In 1964, he proposed a mechanism to explain why the most basic building blocks of the universe have mass.
It predicted the existence of a Higgs particle, the discovery of which was claimed at the Large Hadron Collider 48 years later.
He received numerous awards including the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013, shared with François Englert.
He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2013 and received the Copley Medal, the oldest scientific prize in the world, in 2015.
Later, as Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Edinburgh, Higgs would admit celebrity status turned his life upside-down.
The “Higgsteria” meant that students queue for autographs and a flood of requests to speak at events and sign photos.
Higgs lived in the Scottish capital for more than 60 years and received the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh in 2014.
Higgs’ personal library of over 280 scientific volumes was sold at Bonhams last month for £12,800.
Bonhams, in a tribute to Higgs, said: “The importance and influence of the work of theoretical physicist Professor Peter Higgs is indisputable. He is one of few modern-day scientists to become a household name and, not only that, to have a particle named for them.
“His highly influential work, which diverged from the orthodox theories of the 1950’s and 60’s, remains the basis of fundamental physics today.”
