Goldin Auctions says it has confirmed that neither Michael Jordan nor his family will dispute ownership of several items related to Jordan’s college days at North Carolina.
The memorabilia includes a recruiting letter dated Aug. 12, 1980 from UNC Head Coach Dean Smith; a recruiting letter from Assistant Coach Bill Guthridge dated Feb. 19, 1980; a Michael Jordan University of North Carolina Diploma; and Jordan’s UNC undergraduate academic record.
Jordan’s mother claimed earlier this month that she had the original items in storage.
Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions says his company has “taken all necessary steps to insure that clear and undisputed title will pass to the winning bidder of each of the four UNC Michael Jordan items.”
The letter from Smith to Jordan has a current high bid of over $14,000 while Jordan”s diploma has pushed past $10,000. The auction is open for bidding through February 7.
“We are pleased to continue to stand by the description of the four Jordan UNC items as they appear in our online catalog,” said Ken Goldin, Founder of Goldin Auctions. “We take meticulous care to ensure that every item we offer is authentic and that our consigners have legal ownership of the items.”
Goldin used PSA, James Spence and SGC to assist in the authentication.
Information from authenticators includes:
- The paper the letters are printed on is Fox River Bond 25% cotton paper. This is a stationary that was popular in the 1980 time period.
- Both letters retain the original fold lines from being placed in the envelope 34 years ago and both show the typical wear and tear of a 34 year-old document
- The Dean Smith letter contains a handwritten note and a slight tearing of the ink that would only appear on an original
- The Guthridge letter has a ‘slice’ at the bottom of the letter. The type of cut that would have been created by someone using a letter opener 34 years ago and slicing off the very bottom portion of the stationary. Therefore, the letter itself does not have a straight edge at the bottom, but a curved edge to the paper, something Goldin says would be virtually impossible to replicate.
Michael Jordan’s restaurant in Chapel Hill, aptly named “23” was decorated with a wide assortment of memorabilia including many items provided by Jordan. When the restaurant closed, the memorabilia and other items from the restaurant were stored at a public storage facility. The memorabilia was obtained when the contents of the storage unit were purchased at public auction after the rent went unpaid.
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