Pierre de Coubertin Manuscript, Medals Stand Out at Olympic Auction

(ATR) A rare Pierre de Coubertin four-page manuscript handwritten in French has no signature, but gives insight on his views on physical education in the United States.

The item carries an estimate/minimum bid of $4,000 in the Ingrid O’Neil Mail Bid Auction 76 closing Saturday night.For the auction link, go to IONeil.com.

"It doesn’t matter there’s no autograph; it’s his handwriting," O’Neil tells Around the Rings, noting that there are a lot of collectors worldwide of artifacts relating to the founder of the modern Olympic Games.The manuscript was written about 1889.

A future president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, bestowed a farewell gift upon IOC members in 2002: a sculpture inscribed with the logos of the 10 Olympic Games over which he presided and "Thank You" and "Merci." The piece by Rosa Serra also features a bronze torso of an athlete, one of her favorite subjects. The estimate is $3,500.

"Her sculptures sell for $8,000 upwards, but they are usually larger," O’Neil says. "This is a very reasonable price for a sculpture by her. Samaranch commissioned her over the years to do various projects for the IOC. This was his last one, his thank you for the IOC members."

Medals Galore in Sale

As usual, O’Neil offers many winner’s medals in her 540-item auction. Those from recent Winter Games are among the scarcest.

The unawarded Sochi bronze medal, complete with original case, has a minimum bid of $29,500. A Sochi silver medal fetched $45,224 (including 15 percent buyer’s premium) in the March auction held by O’Neil. It began with an estimate of $32,500.

The 1992 Albertville silver medal featuring Lalique glass has an estimate of $32,500. Although Olympic organizers starting in 1960 were supposed to engrave each awarded winner’s medal with the name of the sport, there were no inscriptions on medals from either Albertville or Barcelona in 1992.

Gold medals from St. Louis for the Athletic Meeting Open Handicap ($18,000) and Montreal and Moscow ($10,500 apiece) are also in the sale. The name of the track and field athlete who won the latter two medals will be given to the winning bidder.

The second batch of medals and diplomas awarded to Eugen Mack, considered the greatest gymnast from Switzerland, include his 1928 gold ($9,000), 1928 bronze ($6,500), 1936 silver ($7,500), 1936 bronze ($6,500) and 1948 London silver ($7,500). The diploma from Berlin ($2,750) and identity card from Berlin ($300) are also offered.

A presentation set of gold, silver and bronze medals from Atlanta has a minimum bid of $10,000.

Torches, Badges and Programs

O’Neil said she already had bids on a Calgary torch ($42,500), one of many torches offered that range from the common (Munich, $2,500) to the hard-to-get (Oslo, $75,000).

The 94-watch collection accumulated by an IOC member since the early 1990s has an estimate of $1,250. O’Neil calls it "an outstanding opportunity." The watch manufacturers include Swatch, Tag Heuer and Tissot. There is wear on some of the leather bands.

Until recently, most collectors did not know of the existence of cardboard badges from Amsterdam 1928. O’Neil is offering four which have estimates from $1,250 to $2,000 (for the one worn by a soigneur for Team USA).

For program collectors, a 1904 St. Louis program with Theodore Roosevelt on the cover has a minimum bid of $1,150. Although it says Olympic Games, it is for the Athletic Meet of the School Boys.

Olympin Festival Headed to Atlanta

The annual Olympin Festival returns to Atlanta next year to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the 1996 Olympic Games. Because it will be held after the 2016 Rio Olympics, collectors will be able to buy, sell and trade the goodies brought home from the Games.

The 35th edition of the Olympin show will take place Oct. 7-9 at the downtown Hyatt hotel, the same venue as the 2012 show. Atlanta also hosted the fair in 2006.

Olympin has more than 500 members worldwide and is the largest group of its kind.

"Its’ a natural thing to go to Atlanta on the 20th anniversary," Olympin president Don Bigsby told ATR. "When it was held post-London, it was a very impactful thing, so we said, ‘Let’s have it in October.’"

Bigsby said show organizer Scott Reed had already done a lot of preparation work before submitting the bid. "He’s done it twice before, and he knows what he’s doing," Bigsby said.

"I have confidence it’s going to be a good show."

Bigsby said he expects some of the collectors who traveled to Lake Placid for the 21st World Olympic Collectors Fair in September to attend the Atlanta show. The date and venue of the next world’s fair has not been determined.

Miracle on Ice Collection

When Leland’s announced that the Jim Craig Miracle on Ice Collection would be sold on a "first come, first served" basis starting Aug. 1, there was "tons of interest," the auction house told ATR.

But interest has since cooled, perhaps due to the steep asking price of $5.7 million. The Team USA hockey goalie’s collection will be available until Nov. 1. Leland’s said that while people have inquired about buying individual pieces, it will only be sold en masse. The link is Lelands.com/sales.

Leland’s calls Craig’s gold medal engraved with his name "the most important Olympic medal ever offered," and the appraised value is $1.5 million-$2 million. However, it has a red-white-and-blue ribbon instead of the original light blue ribbon.

Craig is also prepared to part with a U.S. flag ($1 million-$1.5 million), his uniforms from the famous game against the USSR ($1 million-$1.5 million) and gold-medal game against Finland ($500,000-$1 million), his hockey mask ($250,000-$350,000), stick ($300,000-$400,000), skates ($75,000-$100,000) and other assorted apparel and equipment.

Written byKaren Rosen

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