A jersey once worn by Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella and later handed down through the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league system sold for $108,000 in Heritage Auctions’ May sports memorabilia auction.
The jersey, consigned by the son of Lee Ferrera, a Dodgers farmhand, dates to the 1956 season. Ferrera was with the Kokomo Dodgers, where some of Brooklyn’s used jerseys had wound up a couple of years later and wore it until the team’s new uniforms arrived.
The two-day auction generated over $3.4 million in total.
Among the other items in the sale was a New England Patriots Super Bowl LI ring, awarded to a player on the team that rallied from a 28-3 deficit to defeat the Atlanta Falcons. Described as “ostentatious enough to make a rapper blush, heavy enough to send a strong swimmer to the bottom of the lake,” the ring sold for $96,000. The player who consigned the ring demanded anonymity so only the auction company and the buyer will know it–at least for a while.
Not so anonymous was the consignor of a San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XXIX ring. Eric Davis, a defensive back on the Niners’ squad that walloped the San Diego Chargers on January 29, 1995, consigned several items to Heritage and his ring netted $36,000. A Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl XLVIII ring presented to a stadium staff member, sold for $33,000.
A high-grade Babe Ruth autographed baseball, signed in blue fountain pen and dating to the 1940s, netted $36,000.
Nine items in the auction sold for $30,000 or more, including a 1966 Mickey Mantle game model bat graded GU 9 by PSA/DNA that went for $33,600, the same price achieved by a photo-matched 2001 Michael Jordan Washington Wizards game jersey. Bidders also chased a mid-1960s Paul Hornung Green Bay Packers road jersey ($31,200), a game jersey from Colin Kaepernick’s rookie season ($31,200), a 1950 Warren Spahn Boston Braves full uniform ($28,800), an early 70s Dick Butkus Chicago Bears road jersey ($28,800) and dozens of items from the career of Baseball Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter that were consigned by his family, topped by his Hall of Fame ring ($26,400).
Related Stories:
Roy Campanella Jersey Expected to Bring 6-Figure Price Was Minor League Hand-Me-Down
Man Cleaning Out Desk Finds Trio of Important 1950’s Autographs
Mariano Rivera’s Last Uniform Coming to Auction
Super Bowl Bling Heading to Auction
Mickey Mantle’s Illegal Bat Part of FanFest Auction
SI Report Chronicles Challenges of Brady Jersey Investigation; Pegs Ortega as Avid Collector
FBI Returns Brady’s Missing Super Bowl Jerseys to Patriots
New Game Jersey Exhibit Opens at Patriots’ Home Base
5 Super Bowl Rings; Favre College Scouting Report at Auction
1939 Packers Team Signed Football at Auction is Rare Pre-War NFL Relic
