Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia Ever Sold
Babe Ruth in a Boston Red Sox uniform in 1919.
What fuels the sports memorabilia market? The desire to own a piece of history? Or perhaps an investment?
The 23 items presented here can be classified as both.
But you won't find any American football collectibles.
Why no high-priced football memorabilia? Good question. Our guess is that despite its popularity, the game doesn’t inspire the kind of nostalgia and devotion as other sports.
Anyway, as Satchel Paige put it: "You pays your money and you takes your choice."
#23: Muhammad Ali's 'Fight Of The Century' Gloves
Joe Frazier, right, stands over Muhammad Ali in the 15th round of their heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 8, 1971.
Price: $606,375 (Today $632,000)
Year sold: 2016
Both Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were undefeated and claimed to be heavyweight champion when they met at Madison Square Garden in 1971.
The fight was a thriller, won by Frazier on points after he sent Ali to the canvas in the 15th and final round.
#22: Hank Aaron's Last Home Run Ball
All-time major league home run king Hank Aaron takes a swing on Oct. 4, 1976, in the final game of his 23-year career as a player.
Price: $650,000 (Today $977,675)
Year sold: 1999
Baseball is a game of numbers, and for most fans, no number stands out more than 755, Henry Aaron’s career home run total.
Aaron hit his last home run on July 20, 1976, in his home park at Milwaukee County Stadium as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The groundskeeper who recovered the ball had Hank sign it, then reaped the profit.
#21: Babe Ruth's 1933 Jersey
New York Yankees outfielder Babe Ruth in 1933 at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Price: $657,250 (Today $823,300)
Year sold: 2006
The Bambino is the gold stand of sports memorabilia. Seventy years after his death in 1948, he remains baseball’s most iconic figure.
It’s not surprising that the Sultan of Swat also is the sultan of memorabilia.
In 1933, he hit 34 home runs with the New York Yankees and led the league with 114 walks — because no one wanted to pitch to him.
#20: Babe Ruth's 60th Home Run Bat
In this undated photo, New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth hits a home run.
Price: $660,000
Year sold: 2018
Babe Ruth hit his famous 60th home run in the 1927 season off Washington Senators southpaw Tom Zachary. There are two bats said to be the 60th home run bat.
The Hall of Fame says they have the “real” one, but most experts say one signed to comedian Joe E. Brown is the real McCoy.
Apparently, so does the lucky buyer.
#19: Babe Ruth's 1934 World Tour Uniform
Babe Ruth as a member of the All American team at Yokohama K?en Stadium in 1934.
Price: $771,000 (Today $999,500)
Year sold: 2005
Some trace the Japanese love of baseball to this 1934 barnstorming tour, which capped off the Bambino’s last full season with the Yankees. (The success of this tour could also be the reason Japanese soldiers taunted American GIs with “To Hell with Babe Ruth!” during World War II.)
Also on the roster were Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Gomez, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty O'Doul and Moe Berg.
The piece is the full uniform — even socks — Babe wore on the tour.
#18: Babe Ruth's 1933 Signed Home Run Ball
Price: $805,000 (Today $1,008,400)
Year sold: 2006
On July 6, 1933, the Babe was 38 and would have just two more seasons to play. He hit a mighty home run in the third at Comiskey Park to become the first player to hit a home run in the All-Star Game, giving the American League a 4-2 victory.
Chicago baseball fan Earl Brown caught the ball, then got the Babe to sign it two weeks later. His family sold it for more than $700,000 in 2006 to pay medical bills.
With the 15 percent commission fee charged to buyers at the auction, the bidder paid just over $800,000 for the ball.
#17: Babe Ruth's 1932 'Shot in the Dark' Jersey
New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth in 1932 at Yankee Stadium in New York. Troy Kinunen, president of Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services, said his company evaluated Babe Ruth's 1932 "called shot" jersey for a private collector. Authenticators used photos of old jerseys Ruth had worn to prove it was the real thing.
Price: $940,000 (Today $1,217,000)
Year sold: 2005
In the fifth inning of the third game in the 1932 World Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Oct. 1, 1932, Babe Ruth pointed to center field — or didn’t, depending on which story you give credence to.
What’s undeniable is that on the next pitch, Babe hit the ball over the wall in the direction in which he had pointed — or didn’t.
This was his 10th and last World Series.
#16: The FA Cup
The second, and oldest existing, FA Cup that was presented to winning teams between 1896 and 1910 is held up by staff of Christie's auction house in 2005 in central London.
Price: $956,000 (Today $1,486,000)
Year sold: 2005
The oldest football competition is Britain’s Football Association Challenge Cup, which dates back to 1871.
The first winner was the Wanderers FC.
This is not the first trophy but the oldest surviving, as the original was stolen and thought to be melted down.
This replacement saw service from 1896 to 1910 when the design for the trophy was changed.
#15: Babe Ruth 1918 Contract with the Red Sox
Price: $1,020,000 (Today $1,269,000)
Year sold: 2014
When George Herman Ruth signed this last contract with Boston before they sent him to the Yankees, it was for $5,000.
At the time the document sold, it was the highest price paid for a sports contract.
#14: Boxing Gloves Worn by Muhammad Ali Against Floyd Patterson
Muhammad Ali, right, lands a right to the jaw of Floyd Patterson in the seventh round of their 1965 heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas.
Price: $1,100,000 (Today $1,202,000)
Year sold: 2012
Muhammad Ali and Floyd Patterson did not like each other, and unprecedented hype —marked by the two boxer’s mutual dislike of each other — preceded their heavyweight match on Nov. 22, 1965.
In just the second defense of his heavyweight title, Muhammad Ali won a lopsided 12-round TKO over former two-time champ Patterson.
#13: Sheffield Football Club Rules
Price: $1,240,000 (Today $1,395,000)
Year sold: 2011
The Sheffield Football Club Rules, Regulation and Laws, are sort of the Ten Commandments of English football, and these rules are the tablet they were written on.
The club sold them to raise money for upgrades for the amateur league (seven tiers below the Premier League).
Handwritten in 1858, many of the rules remain in the game today.
#12: Babe Ruth's Bat for First Home Run At Yankee Stadium
The bat used by Babe Ruth to hit his first home run in Yankee Stadium in 1923, is held for a photograph in 2004 at Sotheby's in New York. Ruth hit the home run on Opening Day against the Boston Red Sox when Yankee Stadium opened.
Price: $1,265,000 (Today $1,692,000)
Year sold: 2004
When the Babe became a Yankee, the team played at the Polo Grounds while a new Yankee Stadium was built. At the grand opening on April 18, 1923, Ruth supposedly remarked, “I would give anything to hit a homer.” And so he did.
The bat was later given to the winner of a high school hitting competition, who gave the bat to his caretaker when he died.
There was much excitement when the bat reemerged in the spotlight after being out of sight for 60 years.
Some even feared a Red Sox fan would buy and destroy it to break the Bambino Curse, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.
#11: Paul Henderson's 1972 Summit Series Jersey
Team Canada forward Paul Henderson, left, beats Russian goalie Vladislav Tretyak as Russian national team defenseman Alexander Ragulin watches during a 1972 Summit Series game
Price: $1,275,000 (Today $1, 455,500)
Year sold: 2010
The most expensive hockey item ever sold is a part of Canada’s greatest athletic moment, the jersey worn by Paul Henderson in the legendary 1972 eight-game series with the Soviet Union.
Henderson scored three game-winning goals for Canada, including the series-winner in Game 8.
By the way, the Guinness Book of World Records authenticated the jersey.
#10: Babe Ruth's 1927 World Series Ring
Price: $2,094,000 (Today $2,138,000)
Year sold: 2017
Charlie Sheen is not known to be shy, but the baseball world was surprised to find out in 2017 that he not only owned the Babe’s 1927 World Series ring, but also one of the two contracts between the Yankees and Red Sox, which sent Babe to New York.
1927 was a fine year for Ruth, who batted .356 with 60 home runs, and this is his first championship ring.
#9: Babe Ruth's 1919 Contract That Made Him a Yankee
Babe Ruth in a Boston Red Sox uniform in 1919.
Price: $2,303,320 (Today $2,351,900)
Year sold: 2017
This is the original contract that belonged to Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, the more valuable of the two copies of the famous contract that changed baseball forever.
Also owned by Charlie Sheen, who had a pretty good cut fastball, according to a friend of mine who starred with him in "Major League."
#8: 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Card
Price: $2,880,000
Year sold: 2018
The Mick was the first great sports hero of post-World War II America. This is the card from his first full season with the New York Yankees, and it survived the years in fantastic condition, judged 8.5 out of 10 by a professional grader.
This card is creeping up on the highest-priced Honus Wagner card, and the collector who bought the Mantle card in 2016 for $1.3 million got a nice return on the investment.
#7: Mark McGwire's 70th Home Run Ball
St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire hits his 70th home run of the 1998 season, against Montreal Expos pitcher Carl Pavano, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Price: $3,050,000 (Today $4,661.500)
Year sold: 1998
The reasons why Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from the 1998 season went for $3 million aren’t clear to everyone.
It’s not the ball from the year when McGwire broke Roger Maris’s single season record of 61 home runs, and it doesn’t represent the record for most home runs in a season, which is held by another user of performance-enhancing drugs, Barry Bonds, who hit 73 in 2001.
But if the free market teaches us any lesson, it’s that something is worth what someone will pay for it.
#6: Honus Wagner T-206 Card
Price: $3,120,000 (Today $3,252,000)
Year sold: 2016
There’s a good argument that Honus Wagner was the greatest player of all time, but only a few photographs and artifacts from his legend survive.
This 1909 card was part of a promotion for cigarettes, but few were made because Wagner objected.
Wayne Gretsky famously paid $451,000 for it in 1991.
#5: Rules of Baseball
Price: $3,260,000 (Today $3,398,000)
Year sold: 2016
It’s a good thing that “The Laws of Baseball,” as this 1856 document is called, weren’t chiseled in stone because nearly everything in them, from the prescribed weight of the ball to the placement of the bases — four of them — has been altered many times since.
Still, these handwritten rules by Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams are among the most valuable documents in the world, and every game has to start somewhere.
#4: The Rules of Basketball
Price: $4,300,000 (Today $4,952,800)
Year sold: 2010
James Naismith is considered the father of basketball, but when you read the original 13 handwritten rules from 1891, you’ll wonder if he was more like a distant uncle to today’s game.
For instance, “a goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there.” Figure that one out.
The rules you don’t see today include one that says you must dribble.
No matter, the original rules were being auctioned by the University of Kansas to raise funds, but an alumni who felt they should stay with the Jayhawks bought them and donated them to his alma mater.
#3: Babe Ruth's 1920 Jersey
Babe Ruth in his first year with the New York Yankees in 1920.
Price: $4,400,000 (Today $4,824,000)
Year sold: 2012
The Babe’s jersey during his first season with the Yankees in 1920 is the first year he donned New York pinstripes. It is considered baseball’s Shroud of Turin.
That year, he set a record for home runs in one month — 13 — and finished the season with 54 round-trippers.
#2: 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO
Price: $38,000,000 (Today$39,900,000)
Year sold: 2015
Five world-class drivers — Ernesto Prinoth, Henri Oreiller, Jo Schlesser, Paolo Colombo and Fabrizio Violati — raced with this 1962 Ferrari in the 1960s GT racing series.
The appreciation on this one is insane as it originally sold for $18,000.
#1: 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
Price: $70,000,000
Year sold: 2018
We may need two categories for sports memorabilia — with and without engines.
We thought the 2010 sale of one racing treasure for $38 million was amazing, but this winner of the 1964 Tour de France is probably the most expensive car in the world.
Ferrari built only 39 250 GTOs between 1962 and 1964, and they rarely come up for sale.