1939 Masters Championship Runner-Up Silver Medal Won by Sam Snead....

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$23,900.00 Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder

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Snead falls a stroke short of Guldahl at Augusta

1939 Masters Championship Runner-Up Silver Medal Won by Sam Snead. Heavy rains at Augusta this year delayed the start of the sixth edition of the Masters, necessitating a doubleheader on Sunday, a grueling thirty-six holes, to bring the tournament to its scheduled conclusion. The field was tightly-packed with legends as the Sunday marathon began, with Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, Billy Burke and Ralph Guldahl clustered within three strokes of each other at the top of the standings. But it would prove to be Guldahl who saved his best for last, shooting a microscopic thirty-three through the final nine holes to deny Snead his first Major by the margin of a single stroke.

Heritage was fortunate to present Guldahl's Championship medal earlier this year in our February Platinum Night auction, the historic relic commanding $65,725 in spirited live bidding. And while one must acknowledge that, all else being equal, a victor's prize Gold will always supercede a runner's-up Silver, all else is decidedly not equal here. Guldahl was merely a comet in the sport's nighttime sky, a brief and brilliant flash that flamed out nearly as quickly as it appeared. Snead, by contrast, is a pantheon figure, as permanent and familiar as the moon and stars, thus many in the collecting hobby would argue that his engraved name on verso of the presented second-place prize makes this Silver shine even more brightly than Guldahl's Gold.

There is a great deal of uncertainty over the kinds of awards that were given out in the early years of the Masters Tournament. Even the official Masters website cannot be considered authoritative. Research by our best consultants indicates that no medals were likely awarded at all until 1951, at which time the winner began receiving a Gold Medal and the runner-up a Silver. At that time, prior winners were permitted to buy medals to commemorate their past achievements. Over the years, the design of the Masters medal has changed only once. The early version has a simpler strike and edge than the later version and the driveway in front of the clubhouse is only partially visible in the early version, but appears quite prominently in the later version. Snead's medal presented here is the early version.

Since the Masters is the youngest (but perhaps the most coveted) of the four Major Championships, and because the awarding of medals for the years prior to 1951 cannot be fully ascertained, and because most of the winners and runners-up are wealthy stars who have either retained their medals or donated them to museums, there is really little opportunity for a collector to acquire any Masters medal.

This medal measures 1.75" in diameter and weighs 1.4 ounces. Stamped on verso is "Sterling" along with the maker's hallmark. As the photos clearly show, the detail is outstanding and the condition is Near Mint. The front of the medal depicts the famous clubhouse . The perimeter reads, "Augusta National Golf Club." The back of the medal has the familiar Augusta National logo (map of the USA with the flag coming out of the State of Georgia), and it reads, "Masters Tournament" and "Sam Snead, Runner-Up, 1939." Letter of provenance from Jack Snead.