(FORTUNE Magazine) – If you're American, the Nobel Peace Prize isn't what it used to be. After adjustment for inflation, this year's winners will receive less than the first recipients did 100 years ago. Blame the strong dollar: In kronor, the prize is the most valuable ever.

The Nobel Foundation, set up in 1901 to manage the money left by dynamite maker Alfred Nobel, has been on a tear since the 1980s. (The fund's performance determines the amount of prize money.) Previously the foundation has suffered a requirement to invest only in bonds (until the 1950s), a comatose Swedish stock market (until the '70s), and tax penalties on foreign investments (until the '80s). Lately it's been a weak krona.

This year's winners, the U.N. and its Secretary-General Kofi Annan, aren't saying how they'll spend their winnings. But money isn't the only reward. "You become an oracle," says 1984 winner Desmond Tutu. "You continue to say the same things, but now people listen."

--Paola Hjelt