JFK-Signed Baseball Sells For Over $150K
A baseball signed by former U.S. President John F. Kennedy went up for auction last week and hit a selling price that soared over $150,000.
Sports memorabilia is enjoying a hot streak in the past year. Records for highest-selling (insert item here) are breaking, and JFK’s autographed baseball is the latest.
According to TMZ Sports, SCP Auctions sold a baseball signed by Kennedy. The ball came from his trip to Venezuela in 1961, which sold for $166,818 after 19 placed bids.
Kennedy and the First Lady visited Venezuela as part of an initiative between the U.S. and Latin America.
Venezuelan reporter Julio Messuti owned the historic item, cutting ties with the baseball, six decades after JFK signed it for him. A photo taken in the Venezuelan paper "El Universal" shows the moment that Kennedy signed the ball for Messuti. JFK and Jackie Kennedy visited South America as part of the "Alliance for Progress" initiative.
The ball is the most expensive baseball signed by a president on record.
JFK's Historic Trip To Venezuela
SCP Auction's description stated, in part:
The Spalding 'Associacion Venezuela de Baseball Professional' ball has maintained a creamy white patina with some spot toning on the north panel, though nothing to detract from Kennedy’s lovely autograph in bold blue ink on the sweet spot which appears 7/10 in strength and 8/10 in eye appeal. This signed ball is an exact match to the one pictured on the front page of El Universal, the first photo-match of any POTUS signed baseball to our knowledge.
Truly a one-of-a-kind artifact demonstrating how baseball was used to bridge the cultural gap between two distinct regions of the Americas engulfed in conflict during the Cold War. Considering its provenance and the serendipitous photo-match, not only is this the most significant JFK ball to surface, but it may be the greatest POTUS basebal, bar none!
A snapshot moment in history, kept alive by one expensive piece of memorabilia.
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One sport dominating the memorabilia streak is the NBA. Michael Jordan memorabilia has been flying off the shelves, aided by the respective releases of “The Last Dance” documentary and “Air.” Both highlighted the Bulls’ final championship run with MJ. Memorabilia from Jordan’s final season has been breaking records, including a pair of game-worn that went for $2 million.
Nostalgia can get expensive.