A 2002 FIFA World Cup winners medal is to be auctioned by Hyperion Auctions in United Kingdom with a £15,000 - £20,000 estimate.
There is no mention of who's medal it is but the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Japan and South Korea, was won by Brazil, their 5th World Cup title, beating Germany 2-0 in the final.
The medal is to be auctioned on 14th January with bidding already at £9,000.
The medal was last sold at Juliens in Los Angeles in May 2020 when it attracted 4 bids and sold for a total $50,000, whilst another 2002 winners medal was sold for £108,800 at a Juliens auction in London in June 2017.
Manufactured by the Italian trophy and medal manufacturer GDE Bertoni, the medal has the European 585 stamp inidicating it is 58.5% pure gold. Bertoni are famous for also producing the iconic FIFA World Cup winners trophy which is valued at $250,000.
The medal is being sold with it's original red, gold and blue ribbon plus a certificate of authenticity from Alexandre Silva De Silveira, the Brazilian Football Confederation official, who has had held the medal in his personal collection.
It's rare for FIFA World Cup winners medals to appear at auction as they are considered the pinnacle of a footballer's career.
In December 2022 the family of English football legend sold his 1966 World Cup winners medal for £200,000 at Tennants Auction in the United Kingdom, a sale which also included Ball's match worn shirt which sold for £164,320 and his England cap which sold for £145,360.
Whilst in May 2020 a member of France's victorious World Cup squad of 2018 sold his winners medal, also at Juliens, for $71,875, attracting 10 bids.
The most famous sale is that of Brazilian legend Pele's winning medals from 1958 and 1962 which the great man sold at auction in 2016 for $231,481 and $173,827 when he subsequently donated the proceeds to a pediatric hospital in Brazil.
About your Author:
Adrian Roose has over 30 years’ experience covering all aspects of the rare stamp & memorabilia industry during which he has sold over £50m of unique items, helping build collections for Royalty, household name celebrities and 1,000s of collectors around the world.
Adrian was previously a Director at Stanley Gibbons, a Board Member of Stampex, and Executive Director of Paul Fraser Collectibles, PFC Auctions and JustCollecting, prior to founding The Memorabilia Club.