LOS ANGELES, CA.- The 1971 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences awarded to prominent economist Simon Kuznets will be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions on February 26. It is the first Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences to ever be auctioned and only the fifth Nobel Prize to ever go under the hammer. Interested bidders may participate in the auction online.

Dr. Kuznets, a Harvard University economist, pioneered the measurement of national income and economic development. He developed a macroeconomics-based measurement system, which the Commerce Department uses to estimate the gross national product. The World Bank and private economists adopted Kuznets’ system to estimate economic growth in industrial and third- world countries.

In 1971, the Swedish Royal Academy of Science awarded Dr. Kuznets the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for his ''empirically founded interpretation of economic growth, which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development.''

The gold medal bears Alfred Nobel’s image and the engraving ''Sveriges Riksbank Till Alfred Nobels Minne 1968” on one side. The medal’s reverse side features the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ north star emblem with the engraved phrase “Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien.'' “Simon Kuznet 1971” is engraved on the medal edge. The medal is displayed in the original red leather case with Dr. Kuznets’ name gilt stamped.

The Nobel Prize comes with a letter of authenticity from Dr. Kuznets’ son Simon.

Bidding for the Nobel Prize begins at $150,000.