Excitement Builds for “Legendary” Sports Auction in December Mastro Auctions to conduct unique, important sale of sports memorabilia. Prized baseball and football treasures include Charles White’s 1979 Heisman Trophy and many New York related items.
News-Antique.com - Nov 05,2008 - Mastro Auctions, the world’s leading Sports and Americana auction house, is finalizing plans for a Live Sports Auction that will be held at The Sports Museum of America—the new home of the Heisman Trophy—in New York City on Monday on December 8.
The marquee item of the event will be Charles White’s 1979 Heisman Trophy, football’s most prestigious and elusive award, especially in the eye’s of sports memorabilia collectors. “A collector’s ability to own a Heisman is a truly rare occurrence,” says Doug Allen, COO and president of Mastro Auctions. “Only a handful of Heisman’s have ever become available publicly and each time the sale results in extraordinary bidding interest and a substantial price realized.”
Adding to the anticipation of the event is venue and timing. “Just a few days after this amazing item is auctioned, we’ll find out in the same building who the 2008 Heisman trophy winner will be,” says Allen. “The auction of a Heisman trophy will deliver an exciting lead-in to what is always one of football’s most anticipated moments each year.”
According to Allen, the record price paid for a Heisman trophy is $395,240. (That record-setting trophy, awarded in 1941, originally belonged to Minnesota halfback Bruce Smith.) Allen believes the bidding on the 1979 Charles White Heisman Trophy could hit the six figure range comfortably.
The “legendary” sports auction will feature two sessions. The first will focus on “Legends of the Gridiron,” and this portion will take place on the morning of December 8. Allen says that the Heisman trophy, which will be offered in this session of the live auction, is just a single piece in one of the largest private collections of high-quality football memorabilia ever offered publicly. The collection is composed of more than 250 items, and is dominated by game-used jerseys and helmets worn by Hall of Fame football players, future Hall of Famers, and Heisman Trophy winners.
The second session, “Legends of the Diamond” will occur in the afternoon on the same day. It will feature evocative and historical pieces of baseball memorabilia including game used items, one-of-a-kind display pieces, and high-value baseball cards.
Combined, the two-part unfolding of this unprecedented auction will include hundreds of artifacts, comprising some of the world’s most coveted pieces of vintage football and baseball memorabilia. “We are talking about museum quality items,” says Allen. “Each piece is historical in nature in terms of what and whom it represents.”
Specifically, significant football items being offered in Mastro Auctions’ “Legends of the Gridiron” session include:
• Charles White’s 1979 Heisman Trophy, estimated value $200,000 - $300,000.
• Important 1962-65 Jim Brown Cleveland Browns signed home jersey, estimated value $50,000 - $75,000.
• Johnny Unitas 1970 Baltimore Colts twice-signed game worn road jersey, estimated value $50,000 - $75,000.
• Johnny Unitas circa 1969-70 Baltimore Colts signed game worn helmet, estimated value $20,000 - $30,000.
• Ray Nitschke mid-1960s Green Bay Packers game worn home jersey, estimated value $20,000 - $30,000.
• Jim Taylor 1966 Green Bay Packers
