RR Auction to Offer Manhattan Project Artifacts This September

RR Auction’s latest Remarkable Rarities sale will present 100 lots of memorabilia from science, history, and popular culture. Those interested in the World War II era can especially consider a trove of Manhattan Project artifacts. The Manhattan Project was the research and development effort that yielded the world’s first nuclear weapons, which were tested on American soil before being used to bomb the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The scientific development of these weapons was recently dramatized in Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer, released in July of 2023. 

The upcoming sale features items relating to the Manhattan Project and its leaders, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, and Leslie Groves. Explore some of the top lots before placing a bid.

Among the top Manhattan Project artifacts available in the upcoming sale is a set of three copper prototypes used to model the plutonium core of the atomic bomb (lot #6061; estimate: USD 15,000 – $20,000). These copper spheres modeled the depleted uranium tamper that would eventually surround the bomb’s plutonium core. They were manufactured by the G. E. Nelson Company of Holly, Michigan and were never the subjects of radioactive experiments. 

RR Auction notes that the G. E. Nelson Company was contracted by the federal government to produce artillery shells, battleship parts, and torpedo noses for the U. S. Navy. It began working on the Manhattan Project with engineers from the University of Michigan, producing parts that were eventually used in the “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” bombs.

Another significant lot of Manhattan Project memorabilia relates to the Danish physicist Dr. Niels Bohr, an early pioneer of quantum physics and an advisor to the Manhattan Project. Coming to auction this September is Bohr’s 1957 Atoms for Peace Award, a gold medal presented to him by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Also included in the lot are two Danish awards– a Danish Medal of Merit in gold and a Danish Galathea Medal in silver (lot #6049; estimate: $250,000 – $300,000). 

Niels Bohr was the first recipient of the Atoms for Peace Award, which was established in 1955 through a grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund. It recognized individuals who had contributed to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Bohr was a proponent of international cooperation on nuclear energy after World War II, and he served as the first chairman of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1957. In his speech presenting the award, President Eisenhower spoke about Bohr: “In saluting and honoring Dr. Bohr in the presentation of the first Atoms for Peace Award […] we give recognition to a scientist and a great human being who exemplifies principles the world sorely needs—the spirit of friendly scientific inquiry, and the peaceful use of the atom for the satisfaction of human needs.”

For further reading on the Manhattan Project and atomic energy, bidders can consider David Dietz’s book titled Atomic Energy in the Coming Era. A hardcover copy of this 1949 book signed by many of the notable scientists and organizers of the Manhattan Project is available in the upcoming RR Auction event (lot #6090; estimate: $100,000 – $150,000). The 184-page book includes a total of 49 signatures. Notable signers include Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest O. Lawrence, Leslie R. Groves, David Lilienthal, Arthur Compton, and Isador I. Rabi. It also contains an inscription from the author to the book’s recipient, Kenneth E. Crouch. 

After the bombing of Nagasaki effectively ended World War II, the world was left to reckon with the consequences of nuclear energy. Dietz’s book was one of the first reflections on this new era, presenting both facts and speculation about the future. Unlike other commentators, Dietz believed that nuclear energy would bring about global peace due to its efficiency and the widespread fear of nuclear annihilation.

Rounding out the notable lots of Manhattan Project memorabilia in this sale is a typed letter signed by J. Robert Oppenheimer on the death of Albert Einstein (lot #6063; estimate: $3,000 – $5,000). Oppenheimer worked with Einstein while both scientists were at Princeton, after World War II. Oppenheimer served as the director at the Institute for Advanced Study there, and he shared a warm if professional relationship with Einstein until the latter’s death in 1955. In this letter, Oppenheimer thanks Rafael Grinfeld of Argentina for his condolences and words about Einstein.

The Remarkable Rarities sale at RR Auction will begin at 1:00 PM EDT on September 23, 2023. It will be hosted live at the Royal Sonesta Boston, with online bidding available through Bidsquare. Find additional coverage of this event on Auction Daily.