How far would sport fans go for the most expensive sport memorabilia in the world?
The world has a special spot for sport events, especially when it comes to the most prestigious and oldest tournament in the world. How much money people willing to spend on those events’ memorabilia is one of the proofs of its divinity. Thus, these most expensive sport memorabilia were born.
Why would people buy sport memorabilia at such price? The answer varies. Some may see them as collectible items. Some are just die-hard fans of the athletes, the sport, or the particular event itself. And some just like to put their hands on a piece of history.
Spoiler alert: most of these expensive memorabilia are from American baseball, Babe Ruth’s items in particular. This should come as no surprise since Major League Baseball of United States has been around for more than a century.
Here we have the top 15 of the world’s most expensive sport memorabilia ever sold. Since the auctions have been going on for decades, we converted the selling prices to their value today. After all, fair play is all that matters, right?
15. FA Cup (£478,400 or $750,000 today)
About one and a half century ago, a competition among football clubs started in England. With such age, of course it is the oldest competition in the world. And this cup is one of the few surviving original trophies made for the competition’s winner.
This one was made in 1896 to replace the first ever cup which was stolen. This silver cup was used in the FA Cup competition from the year it was made to the year of 1910 before the new design was created.
Twelve years ago, this cup hit Christie’s auction house in London. And it set up a furious bidding, not just among those attending at the auction house, but also those tuning in through telephone worldwide. A lucky anonymous telephone bidder won it for £478,400, including buyer’s premium. That is equal to approximately $750,000 today.
FA made only five of this silver cup. As the first one was stolen and assumed to be broken down to pieces, there are only four of them left in the world. Thus, this cup is not just historical, but also extremely rare.
