GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - Vince Lombardi’s 1956 New York Giants World Championship ring generated the most money at a recent auction of his memorabilia.
The ring sold for more than $50,100, USA Today Network-Wisconsin (https://pck.rs/2kuZOZd) reported. Lombardi was the Giants’ offensive coordinator and became head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1959.
The seven Lombardi-related items raised a total of nearly $127,600.
“The auction did well overall and the final tally of the Lombardi Collection came in higher than expected,” said Terry Melia of SCP Auctions. “The two items that far exceeded expectations were the Patek Philippe wristwatch and the JFK telegram. Combined, they brought in $30,000 more than we originally estimated. These were all outstanding final prices realized.”
Lombardi’s son, Vince Lombardi Jr., put the items up for auction, saying they were in a safe deposit box “collecting dust.”
“With exception of the Giants championship ring, it didn’t mean much to me,” Lombardi Jr. said before the auction. “I don’t really have any emotional attachment to them, except for the Giants ring. I was a water boy and ball boy for all that time.”
Other items in the auction included a George Halas Night Patek Philippe wristwatch, which sold for more than $28,500; a congratulatory telegram from President John F. Kennedy, which sold for nearly $17,900; a Green Bay Packers 14-karat gold and diamond cuff link, which sold for more than $10,000; a Green Bay Packers 14-karat gold and diamond pendant, which sold for more than $7,300; a Bishop’s Charity Game Bulova wristwatch, which sold for more than $7,300; and New York Giants handwritten playbook notes, which sold for more than $6,300.
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This story has been corrected to correct Kennedy’s middle initial to F. instead of K.
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Information from: Press-Gazette Media, https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com
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