In 1964, Producer David Merrick collected a Tony award for the musical, Hello, Dolly. If we are to believe this listing on eBay, here is what happened to the medallion presented that year: Someone got hold of it and had it re-engraved, obliterating the inscription that said "David Merrick" and "Hello, Dolly" and inscribing a bogus one that read, "G. William Marshall, The Literary Award for "The Deal." The date on the medallion has also been changed to 1969. One would assume Merrick did not do this to his own Tony award, but Merrick did some pretty bizarre things during his career. I mean, one would also assume he would never let loose of the medallion and that if it had been stolen, we'd have heard about it.
A bit of Internet Sleuthing tells us that there actually was a paperback novel called The Deal, written by G. William Marshall and published in 1969 by Dell Books. It does not appear to ever have been a play, nor did G. William Marshall ever write anything that might have warranted a real Tony award.
The person who sold this item for $810 says they obtained it at a flea market in Paris in 1982 and that they had it authenticated at the time by Merrick's former press agent, Harvey Sabinson. Mr. Sabinson is still with us. Perhaps someone can ask him if he did indeed authenticate this thing and if so, does he have any idea wha' happened.