We all know that gold medals are given out at award ceremonies like the Olympics. But did you know that most of those that are handed out are gold-plated? There are three notable exceptions to this rule, and they are handed out to some of the best and brightest in the world.

The first is Lorentz Medal. It is given every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, mostly for work in theoretical physics. It’s unsurprising that there was only one year where the award was shared; most of us don’t even know what theoretical physics is!

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest award that can be presented to a civilian by the United States Government. There is no standard or list to set store by when awarding these medals; therefore each one is minted specifically for the recipient, always with a motif representative of their accomplishments. This is not to be confused with the Congressional Medal of Honor, as that is giving to those serving in the armed services. Charles Lindbergh, George M. Cohen, Bob Hope, Jonas Salk, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Nelson Mandela, and the Dali Lama are just some of this prestigious medals recipients.

Lastly, the Nobel Prize medal is made of 18k green gold the plated in 24k. They are minted in Norway and medals for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Literature are identical on the face: they show the image of Alfred Nobel and the years of his birth and death (1833–1896). Nobel’s portrait also appears on the Nobel Peace Prize Medal and the Medal for the Prize in Economics, but with a slightly different design. The image on the reverse varies according to the institution awarding the prize.