Penicillin Mold Medallion made by Alexander Fleming
date: label: date made
content: Mold produced in 1928, mounted ca mid-1940
name: label: maker
content: Fleming, Alexander
label: maker
content: Fleming, Alexander
notes: label: Description
content: In September 1928, British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming found something unusual growing in his laboratory. Mold had contaminated a plate of Staphylococci, disease-causing bacteria. Where the mold had spread, the bacteria had disappeared.
label: Description
content: Further research revealed that the mold, Penicillium notatum, produced a substance harmful to microorganisms but relatively nontoxic to animals and humans. During World War II, British and American scientists expanded on Fleming's discovery to develop the powerful antibiotic penicillin.
label: Description
content: This two-inch diameter medallion contains a small preserved sample of mold made from Fleming's original penicillin mold culture. Beginning in the mid-1940s, Fleming made a series of these medallions and gifted them to many individuals including friends, colleagues, politicians, and the Royal Family. Fleming gave this one to his laboratory assistant, Dan Stratful. In 1996 it was purchased at auction by the pharmaceutical firm, Pfizer, Inc., who then donated it to the Smithsonian. Fleming's handwritten inscription on the back reads: "The mold / that makes / penicillin / Alexander Fleming."
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift from Pfizer, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1999.0273.1
label: accession number
content: 1999.0273
label: catalog number
content: 1999.0273.1
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Penicillin Mold
label: Object Name
content: biological
label: Object Name
content: penicillin mold
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 in x 2 in x 1/2 in x 2 in; 5.08 cm x 5.08 cm x 1.27 cm x 5.08 cm